West set on going to war with Iran, Russian foreign minister declares

LONDON — British Prime Minister David Cameron accused the Iranian regime of supplying weapons for the Syrian onslaught on democracy protests Wednesday as Russia’s foreign minister warned that the West was set on a path to war with Tehran.

The Prime Minister disclosed that British officials had been told that weapons shipments from Iran to Syria had been intercepted by Turkey and that intelligence reports confirmed that Hezbollah, the Iranian- backed Lebanese movement, was actively involved in the slaughter in Syria.

“There is now growing evidence that Iran is providing a huge amount of support,” he told the House of Commons. “There have been interceptions of some shipments by Turkey which are particularly interesting.”

Mounting frustration over the role of foreign support for the Syrian regime has seen Western powers switch tactics in recent days. After deferring to an Arab League initiative to send in monitoring teams to defuse violence, diplomats now want a UN Security Council resolution condemning the regime.

But Russia made clear it had drawn a line against the Western barrage of criticism of Iran. Sergei Lavrov, the foreign minister, said he was doing all he could to resist military action against Iran to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons.

Lavrov said Western accusations against Iran were pushing the region closer to confrontation as well as provoking sectarian clashes in places such as Syria.

“As for the chances of this catastrophe happening, you would have to ask those constantly mentioning it as an option that remains on the table,” Lavrov said.

“I have no doubt in the fact that it will only add fuel to the fire of the stillsimmering Sunni- Shiite conflict. And I do not know where the subsequent chain reaction will end.”

Ehud Barak, Israel’s defence minister, appeared to withdraw one pressing threat against Iran on Wednesday by stating that any military strike was “very far away.”

Israeli officials have said they believe that tough economic measures against Iran could force the regime to abandon what the west alleges is research that could lead to a nuclear weapon.