Iran warns against US crossing Syria 'red line'
Crossing Syria's red line will have severe consequences for White House, says Iranian military official; Netanyahu says obscene crimes in Syria mustn't go on
Iran on Sunday warned the United States against crossing the "red line" on Syria, saying it would have "severe consequences", according to the Fars news agency.
"America knows the limitation of the red line of the Syrian front and any crossing of Syria's red line will have severe consequences for the White House," said Massoud Jazayeri, deputy chief of staff of Iran's armed forces, reacting to statements by Western officials regarding the possibility of military intervention in Syria, according to Fars.
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Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also addressed the situation in Syria. "What is happening in Syria is a terrible tragedy and an obscene crime. Our hearts go out to the women, children, babies and civilians who were so brutally hurt by the use of weapons of mass destruction," he said.
The prime minister added that Israel has drawn three conclusions from the chemical weapons assault near Damascus. "First is that this situation cannot go on. Second, that the world's most dangerous regimes must not posses the most dangerous weapons in the world.
Third, we of course expect this to stop, but we always bear in mind the ancient principle of our sages who said, "If we are not for ourselves, who will be for us?" That is, we always have our ear to the ground. Our finger is a responsible one and if it is required it can be on the trigger. We will always make sure to protect our citizens and the State against those who attempt to harm us or have harmed us – that is our guiding principle."
President Barack Obama and his top military and national security advisers hashed out options on Saturday for responding to the alleged use of chemical weapons in Syria amid "increasing signs" that the government used poison gas against civilians.
Obama spoke with British Prime Minister David Cameron, a top US ally, and agreed that chemical weapon use by Syrian President Syrian President Bashar Assad's forces would merit a "serious response," a spokesperson for the prime minister said in a statement.
Noam (Dabul) Dvir contributed to this report
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