Iran wants probe into chemical attack

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani called yesterday for an impartial probe of last week’s suspected chemical weapons attack in Syria and warned that US missile strikes in response risked escalating extremism in the region.

Washington accused the government of Syrian President Bashar Al Assad of the attack and on Friday launched cruise missiles at a Syrian airbase that the Pentagon said was involved.

“We are asking for an impartial international factfinding body to be set up ... to find out where these chemical weapons came from,” Rouhani said in a speech yesterday.

Tehran is Al Assad’s main regional ally and has provided military and economic support for his fight against rebel groups and Daesh.

While the Syrian opposition applauded the US cruise missile attack on the airbase near Homs, it said it should not be a one-off and was not enough on its own to stop government warplanes from hitting rebelheld areas.

However, in a tweet about the missile strikes, Rouhani said: “I call on the world to reject such policies, which bring only destruction and danger to the region and the globe. US aggression against Shayrat (airbase) strengthens regional extremism and terror, and global lawlessness and instability, and must be condemned,” Rouhani said.

The heads of the general staffs of Iran and Russia, a close ally of Assad, spoke by telephone yesterday and condemned the US strikes as “blatant aggression ... aimed at slowing a trend of victories by Syria’s army”.