Ahmadinejad Rejects Iran's Military Interference in Syria
(FNA)- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad strongly rejected the western allegations about Tehran's military support for Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, and blasted the western governments for their meddling in the internal affairs of the Muslim country.
Speaking in an interview with France 24 in Tehran, President Ahmadinejad strongly rejected western allegations that his government was equipping the Syrian regime.
Ahmadinejad denied the allegations that Iran was equipping Syria's President Bashar al-Assad's regime, maintaining that Iran has "perfectly normal relations" with Syria "as with other countries. We are in favor of protecting the rights of the people."
Iran has supported former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan's six-point peace plan for Syria, calling it the "best solution in this situation".
Ahmadinejad repeatedly cited "foreign interference" in the region and questioned how Western governments view the situation in Syria.
"There are commissions set up whose job it is to examine the situation. It seems unbelievable to me that a government can kill its own people," he said.
Ahmadinejad also discussed the situation in Syria, particularly last week's massacre in the Syrian town of Houla.
He condemned the massacre and said the perpetrators must be brought to justice.
"We are strongly aware and disappointed about it," said Ahmadinejad, referring to the massacre in which 108 people - mostly women and children - were killed. "The people responsible for these massacres must be punished and sanctioned. I think the committees set up to investigate this will get to the truth," he said.
The Syrian government has launched an inquiry commission into the incident.
Syria has been experiencing unrest since March 2011 with organized attacks by well-armed gangs against Syrian police forces and border guards being reported across the country.
Hundreds of people, including members of the security forces, have been killed, when some protest rallies turned into armed clashes.
The government blames outlaws, saboteurs, and armed terrorist groups for the deaths, stressing that the unrest is being orchestrated from abroad.
In October, calm was eventually restored in the Arab state after President Assad started a reform initiative in the country, but Israel, the US and its Arab allies are seeking hard to bring the country into chaos through any possible means. Tel Aviv, Washington and some Arab capitals have been staging various plots in the hope of increasing unrests in Syria.
The US daily, Washington Post, reported that the Syrian rebels and terrorist groups battling the President Bashar al-Assad's government have received significantly more and better weapons in recent weeks, a crime paid for by the Persian Gulf Arab states and coordinated by the United States.
The newspaper, quoting opposition activists and US and foreign officials, reported that Obama administration officials emphasized the administration has expanded contacts with opposition military forces to provide the Persian Gulf nations with assessments of rebel credibility and command-and-control infrastructure.
According to the report, material is being stockpiled in Damascus, in Idlib near the Turkish border and in Zabadani on the Lebanese border.
Opposition activists who two months ago said the rebels were running out of ammunition said earlier this month that the flow of weapons - most bought on the black market in neighboring countries or from elements of the Syrian military in the past - has significantly increased after a decision by Saudi Arabia, Qatar and other Persian Gulf states to provide millions of dollars in funding each month.