Iran’s Supreme Leader Calls on US to Prove Honesty in New Approach on Syria

TEHRAN – Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei expressed the hope that the US would prove honest in its new approach which annuls its earlier declaration of war on Syria, but meantime, underlined that Iran continues to pursue the regional developments thoroughly and vigilantly.

“We hope that the new US approach on Syria will be serious and far from political games,” Ayatollah Khamenei said, addressing Iranian Hajj officials in Tehran on Wednesday.

“If so, it will mean that the US is returning from its self-centered and wrong approach (that it had adopted) in the last few weeks,” he added.

Ayatollah Khamenei also blasted the US and its allies for threatening Syria with military attack, and said, “They even embark on setting fire and trampling other countries and nations’ interests for their alleged national interests which are, in fact, the interests of the Zionists and the big capitalists.”

He stressed that Tehran is following the regional developments attentively and vigilantly.

His remarks came after US President Barack Obama said Monday he will stop a US plan to strike Syria if the country agrees with the Russian proposal to surrender its possible chemical stocks to international control.

Obama said the Russian proposal could lead to a “breakthrough,” but added that the US will maintain pressure on Syria by continuing his push for Congress to authorize military action.

As the US Congress debates authorizing an attack on Syria, Russia on Monday proposed Syria put its chemical weapons under international control.

The idea is a “potentially positive development”, Obama said, adding that Washington will work with Moscow and the international community “to see if we can arrive at something that is enforceable and serious”, the Islam Times reported.

The Syrian government has welcomed the Russian proposal.

Obama on Monday gave a series of television interviews in an attempt to gain support from lawmakers and public for what he called a “limited” military strike on Syria.

Recent polls show that the majority of Americans oppose any US military action against Syria.

H. Mustafa