TEHRAN BREAKING ARMS BAN, UN SAYS

Iran appears to be supplying Syria with weapons, the United Nations said on Wednesday. The accusation backs charges by Western officials that Iran is providing funds, weapons and intelligence support to Syrian President Bashar Assad in his bid to crush the opposition.

Syrian rebels also say Tehran has sent Revolutionary Guards and Hezbollah fighters.

UN political affairs chief Jeffrey Feltman told the Security Council that some of the transfers into Syria appear to violate a UN ban on arms exports by Iran. He also reiterated UN concerns at weapons being smuggled between Lebanon and Syria.

“Both the government and the opposition are focusing on military operations and the use of force, with government forces using heavy weapons on population centres,” Feltman said. “The Syrian people are suffering grievously from the appalling further militarization of this conflict.”

A UN Security Council panel of independent experts that monitors sanctions against Iran has uncovered several examples of Iran transferring arms to Syria’s government.

Damascus has accused Qatar and Saudi Arabia of arming rebels determined to overthrow Assad’s government.

Meanwhile, Britain, France and the U.S. discussed on Wednesday how to bolster the Syrian opposition.

British Prime Minister David Cameron and U.S. President Barack Obama also agreed that the use or threat of chemical weapons use by Syria was “was completely unacceptable” and would force them to “revisit their approach” to the conflict.