The head of Iran’s Parliament said on Wednesday that the U.S. must be wary of military intervention in Syria, which he claimed would spread into the Palestinian territories and affect Israel as well.
The Mehr News Agency reports that Ali Larijani said in Parliament today: “It appears that the U.S. and the West are laying the grounds for a new crisis. A U.S. military official has said that they might get into a military operation in Syria similar to the one they did in Libya.”
Larijani accused the United States of issuing “aggressive and irrational” statements, adding: “Syria does not have the characteristics of Libya, and trying to make another Benghazi in Syria will drag things into Palestine, and the dust of such warmongering will for sure cover the Zionist regime. Be wary of this dangerous game.”
In the past two days, Germany, France, Britain, Spain, Italy, Australia, Turkey and a number of other countries have expelled all Syrian diplomats from their countries in reaction to the reported massacres in Houla. General Martin Dempsey of the U.S. military has also indicated that the military option for stopping the violence in Syria should be considered.
Syria has been dealing with unrest for more than a year, and the Islamic Republic has remained a faithful supporter of the Assad regime throughout the events.
According to a UN report, more than 9,000 people have been killed in the violence that’s lasted more than a year.
Larijani maintained that Iran supports “democratic reforms” in Syria and opposes any “terrorist actions and opportunistic intervention by other countries” in Syria.
A recent statement by an Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander indicated that some IRGC forces have been active in Syria “to protect civilian lives.” The head of Iran’s joint military forces, Hassan Firouzabadi, has said, however, that Iran does not interfere in Syrian affairs.
