Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif (L) and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon[/caption]Irans Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has slammed the use of chemical weapons and warned against military intervention in Syria in a phone conversation with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
Military intervention in Syria will have damaging and wide-ranging consequences that will be very difficult to control, Zarif said.
While emphasizing that any use of force to resolve the Syrian crisis would lead to failure, the Iranian foreign minister expressed Tehrans readiness to assist in finding a peaceful resolution of the debacle.
Ban, for his part, underscored the need to find a political solution to the crisis Syria.
In an earlier telephone call to his Venezuelan counterpart Elias Jose Jaua Milano, Zarif also expressed concerns about the dangerous consequences of the use of force in Syria.
We believe that the use of chemical weapons in any form and by anyone is condemnedwe also believe that resorting to force is also completely illegal and in violation of international security and peace, Zarif said.
The call for military action against Syria intensified after foreign-backed opposition forces accused the government of President Bashar al-Assad of launching a chemical attack on militant strongholds in the suburbs of Damascus on August 21.
Damascus has vehemently denied the accusations, saying the chemical attack was carried out by the militants themselves as a false-flag operation.
On Saturday, US President Barack Obama announced a decision to take unilateral military action against the Syrian government without a UN mandate.
Obamas announcement came amid growing international condemnation of any such move against the Arab nation until a UN probe into the use of chemical weapons in the country is complete.
Syria has been gripped by deadly unrest since 2011. According to reports, the Western powers and their regional allies -- especially Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey -- are supporting the militants operating inside Syria.
According to the United Nations, more than 100,000 people have been killed and a total of 7.8 million of others displaced due to the violence.
?By Press TV
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