Iran Condemns US Missile Attack on Syria as Violation of Int’l Law

In a statement released on Friday, Qassemi highlighted links between the recent US missile strikes and an earlier chemical attack in Syria’s rebel-held Idlib province, saying Washington has used the chemical attack, whose perpetrators are not known, as a pretext to launch an offensive against the Damascus government.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran, as the biggest victim of chemical weapons in contemporary history, condemns any use of chemical weapons, regardless of the perpetrators and victims and at the same time regards the use of this pretext to take unilateral measures as a dangerous and destructive (move) and a violation of peremptory norms of international law,” he noted.

The spokesman further emphasized that the US missile attack on the Syrian government will only strengthen the terrorists, who are on the verge of collapse and complicate the satiation in the Arab country and the region.

The US military attacked the Syrian government’s Shayrat Airfield near Homs with 59 tomahawk missiles on Thursday evening.

Officially announcing the strike, US President Donald Trump claimed that the targeted airfield had launched the chemical attack on the rebel-held area in Idlib.

Earlier on Thursday, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem said the country’s armed forces “did not and will not” use chemical weapons, even against extremist groups.