Russia and Iran affirm commitment to Syrian government
BEIRUT — Russia and Iran renewed their support for the Syrian government in a flurry of calls on Sunday, saying last week’s U.S. missile strike violated Syrian sovereignty but failed to boost the morale of “terror groups” in Syria.
In a phone call with Syrian President Bashar Assad, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani called the strike on Friday a “blatant violation” of Syrian sovereignty, Syrian state media reported. Assad accused the U.S. of trying to boost the morale of “terror groups” in Syria. The government refers to all those fighting against it as terrorists.
A statement carried on the military media arm of Hezbollah condemned the American strike in much stronger language, saying it had “crossed red lines” and vowing to “reply with force” to any future aggression “in a variety of ways.”
The Lebanese militant group has invested thousands of fighters in the defence of Assad’s government. The statement was made in the name of a previously unheard of “shared operations room” between Russia, Iran and allied forces. There was no comment from Russia or Iran about the statement.