Iran Actively Aiding Syria’s Repression of Protests, U.S. Says
Iran is actively supporting the Syrian government’s attacks on protesters, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations said after the Security Council failed to agree on a European proposal to condemn the violence.
“We are very conscious of and concerned by the evidence of active Iranian involvement and support on behalf of the Syrian government’s repression of its people,” Ambassador Susan Rice said today.
“Instead of listening to his own people,” she said, President Bashar al-Assad “is disingenuously blaming outsiders while at the same time seeking Iranian assistance.”
Rice said she didn’t want to go into details about the evidence backing up her allegations.
“This is an outrageous statement, irresponsible and provocative,” said Bashar Ja’Afari, Syria’s ambassador to the UN. “It is nonsense, unfounded and not even worth it to comment.”
The Security Council heard a briefing on the situation from UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and adjourned without taking action on a draft statement, circulated yesterday by Britain, France, Germany and Portugal, that would condemn the Syrian government’s actions and call for an international investigation.
“I condemn, utterly, the continuing violence against peaceful demonstrators, most particularly the use of tanks and live fire that have killed and injured hundreds of people,” Ban told reporters. “There should be an independent, transparent and effective investigation.”
The Security Council will reconvene tomorrow for further discussion of the unrest in Syria.
Crackdown Continues
Syrian security forces strafed the streets of the southern city of Daraa with machine guns today and the government cut off water supplies as the death toll from yesterday’s crackdown rose to 25, a witness said. The government said soldiers responded to an appeal by residents to “stop killing, vandalism and intimidation by radical terrorists,” the state news agency Sana said yesterday, citing a military official.
Assad’s decision to end the emergency rule in place for half a century and his pledges of future political and economic measures have failed to halt the spread of demonstrations. At least 400 people have been killed nationwide since protests began in Syria in mid-March, Ammar Qurabi, head of Syria’s National Organization for Human Rights, said yesterday.
Ja’Afari rejected Ban’s call for an outside investigation because, he said, the Assad regime is conducting its own inquiry.
“We can undertake any investigation by our own selves with full transparency,” Ja’Afari said. “We have nothing to hide. We have our national investigation commission that has already undertaken a full investigation of what happened. We are doing our homework. We don’t need help from anybody.”
Ja’Afari said all those who have died in the violence -- whether protesters or security forces -- are considered as “martyrs” and will treated as such, including reparations to their families.
To contact the reporter on this story: Bill Varner at the United Nations at wvarner@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Mark Silva in Washington at msilva34@bloomberg.net