Iran warns US of ‘Zionist trap’ in Syria

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif says the United States will fall into a trap laid in Syria by the Zionists, if Washington launches a military strike on the Arab country. “The Syria crisis is a trap set by Zionist pressure groups for this country (the United States),” said Zarif in a Tuesday TV interview. If the White House gets involved in a war on Syria, said Zarif, US President Barack Obama will undoubtedly leave a very unpleasant memory of his presidency in peoples’ minds. The top Iranian diplomat argued that any adventurism in Syria will ignite tension in the entire Middle East, adding, “If the crisis flares up, it cannot be confined to one region.” On August 21, the militants operating inside Syria and the foreign-backed Syrian opposition claimed that 1,300 people had been killed in a government chemical attack on militant strongholds in the Damascus suburbs of Ain Tarma, Zamalka and Jobar. A number of Western countries, including the US, France, and the UK, were quick to adopt the rhetoric of war against Syria despite the fact that Damascus categorically rejected the baseless claim, and announced later that the chemical attack had actually been carried out by the militants themselves as a false flag operation. Since Tuesday, speculations have become stronger about the possibility of a military attack on Syria. Media outlets have been reporting US plans for likely surgical attacks, which would be in the form of “cruise-missile strikes,” and “could rely on four US destroyers in the Mediterranean [Sea].” The plan, however, seems to be awaiting US President Barack Obama’s go-ahead. Iran, Russia and China, among other countries, have warned against foreign military intervention in Syria, which has been gripped by deadly unrest since 2011. A very large number of the militants operating inside Syria are reportedly foreign nationals. The United Nations says more than 100,000 people have been killed and many more displaced since the outbreak of the violence.