Iran’s Majlis Members Meet Assad in Damascus

An Iranian parliamentary delegation which had arrived in Damascus on Saturday, today held talks with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The purpose of the visit was to reiterate Iran’s full support for Assad after the U.S. had declared Assad responsible for the recent chemical attack in the country that killed more than 1,400 people. U.S. President Barack Obama has asked the Congress for authorization for a limited military strike against Syria to diminish the country’s military’s capabilities to use chemical weapons.

The Iranian delegation was headed by Chairman of the Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Committee Alaeddin Boroujerdi. The members of Majlis are scheduled to hold separate meetings with Syrian Prime Minister Wael al-Halqi and Foreign Minister Walid Muallem later today.

“As representatives of the Islamic Republic of Iran, we once again inform Syrian officials and the international community of our opposition to any attack and war on Syria,” Boroujerdi told reporters in Damascus on Saturday. (IRNA/Press TV, 1 September)

The Iranian government has not officially blamed either side in the Syrian civil war for the 21 August chemical attack, but Press TV, the state-run Iranian TV network, said in its report of Boroujerdi’s visit to Damascus that the “Takfiri militants,” the terrorist elements within the Syrian opposition, were responsible for the attack. The Syrian government has also denied responsibility.

Photo credit: Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Committee Alaeddin Boroujerdi, partially hidden at left, in the meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (center). Damascus, Sunday 1 September 2013. (Mehr News Agency)