TEHRAN, Iran
The Iranian and Syrian foreign ministers condemned Monday recent Israeli airstrikes against President Bashar al-Assad regime targets in the Syrian city of Damascus.
The Iranian government backs the Assad regime and sees it as a legitimate defense against the rapid growth of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant militants.
The Iranian news agency, IRNA, quoted Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif as saying that the Israeli attack had the objective to lift the spirits of "terrorist groups" in Syria that were suffering serious blows by the "public resistance waves."
Zarif made the remarks in Tehran at a joint press conference with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem.
Al-Moallem said Syria was facing an international conspiracy.
"The founders of this conspiracy are some European states, the U.S., Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar," he said.
He added that now Israel too had joined this group.
Al-Moallem added that Israel undertook such airstrikes to give moral support to the ISIL militants, which were allegedly suffering huge losses in several regions in Syria such as Aleppo and Deir ez-Zor.
Israel Sunday declined to comment on reported airstrikes it allegedly carried out in an area near the Damascus International Airport.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry said it was aware of news about the airstrikes in Syria. "But we are not responding to it," spokesman Emmanuel Nahson told The Anadolu Agency by telephone.
www.aa.com.tr/en
