U.S. military aid to Syrian rebels will undermine regional security: Iran

TEHRAN,June 16(MNA) – An Iranian Foreign Ministry official said that the U.S. military assistance to Syrian rebels will further undermine regional security particularly in the crisis-hit Syria. Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Amir-Abdollahian also said that the time has come for the United States to change its wrong approach toward Syria. Earlier, the White House had claimed that the United States had conclusive evidence the Syrian government had used chemical weapons against foreign-backed militants. Amir-Abdollahian said Iran is certain that the Syrian government has not used chemical weapons against rebels, but some terrorists have used “chemical gases”. On Friday, the Syrian government dismissed U.S. charges that it used chemical weapons as “full of lies,” accusing Obama of resorting to fabrications to justify his decision to arm Syrian rebels. U.S. President Barack Obama has authorized sending weapons to foreign-backed militants fighting against the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, U.S. officials said on Thursday. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., one of the strongest proponents of U.S. military action in Syria, said he was told on Thursday that Obama had decided to “provide arms to the rebels,” a decision confirmed by other U.S. officials, the Associated Press reported. The officials cautioned that decisions on the specific type of weaponry were still being finalized, though the CIA was expected to be tasked with teaching the rebels how to use the arms the White House had agreed to supply. The U.S. decision to begin arming the militants marks a deepening of U.S. involvement in Syria’s two-year crisis.