Assad blames "Israel is trying to destabilize Syria"

For the first time since the aerial attack on his territory, Syrian President Bashar Assad responds today (Sunday), and lays the responsibility on Israel for the attack. "Israel is trying to destabilize Syria," Assad accused.

In a meeting he held this morning in Damascus with Sa'ad Jalili, secretary of Iran's National Security Council and State Representative for nuclear talks, Assad said: "Syria is able to deal with current threats and the aggression directed towards it." According to Assad, "Israel unveiled its cooperation with foreign elements which are hostile to Syria and are trying to weaken it."

According to the official Syrian news agency, the Iranian official meeting with Assad stressed the "Tehran's support for the Syrian people against the Zionist entity and against external conspiracies - designed to undermine the regional stability."

Jalili himself said after the meeting: "We have great confidence in the wisdom of the Syrian leadership to deal with the cruel aggression, aimed at harming Syria's pioneering role in the resistance axis."

Earlier this morning, a senior officer in Iran condemned the bombing in the city of Jumraia, and warned of Damascus' response. The Iranian news network in the Persian language, 'Iran TV', cited Iran's Deputy Chief of Staff, General Massoud Jaziri, saying that "Syria's response to the act of aggression of the Zionist regime of Israel will put Israel into coma." He added that Israel's arrogance is on the verge of collapse, and said that "there is a limit to Syrian restraint."

Meanwhile, Defense Minister Ehud Barak, is the first Israeli senior who makes public reference to the bombing, Barak said this afternoon: "What happened in Syria a few days ago is proof that we mean what we say." Barak, who was at a security conference in Munich, said: "It would be wrong to allow Hezbollah to rearm with advanced weapons systems," and added that there is a price for this type of action.

'בחדרי' גם ברשתות החברתיות - הצטרפו!