Syrian rebels behind chemical attacks if claims true, Iran tells Turkey

TEHRAN

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Thursday the Syrian government could not have been behind a possible chemical weapon attack. AFP PHOTO/ATTA KENARE

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said the Syrian government could not have been behind a possible chemical weapon attack on the outskirts of Damascus during a telephone conversation with his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoğlu on Aug. 21.

“If the use of chemical weapons is true, it has definitely been carried out by terrorist ... groups, because they have proved in action that they refrain from no crime,” Zarif told Davutoğlu, according to a written statement by the Iranian Embassy in Ankara.

“With United Nations (chemical weapons) inspectors now in Damascus and the Syrian government in the process of driving the terrorists back, why would it commit such an act,” he asked.

Zarif said Tehran “vigorously condemns any use of chemical weapons,” while accusing the rebels of having “every interest in aggravating and internationalizing the crisis.”