Iran’s Rohani Warns Against Further U.S. Action Against Syria

RFL/RE – Iranian President Hassan Rohani has warned against further military action by the United States against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government, saying that it could be “very dangerous” for the region.

Rohani spoke on April 10 at a news conference in Tehran that was broadcast on state television.

On April 7, two U.S. Navy ships fired 59 Tomahawk missiles at an air base in Syria in response to what the United States and other Western states say was a chemical attack by Assad’s forces that killed dozens of Syrian civilians.

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said on the same day that the United states “is prepared to do more” but hopes it does not have to.

Rohani, whose country is Assad’s chief backer in Syria’s six-year-old war, repeated his condemnation of the U.S. strikes and his call for an international investigation into the deadly incident.

“Some chemical gas was disseminated in Khan Sheikhun, a number of people were killed and injured. Where did it come from? What was it? How did it happen?” he said.

Russia and Assad’s government have claimed that government air strikes hit rebel-controlled chemical weapons stores, an assertion that U.S. officials say is implausible.