Iran says Syria gas attack reports “excuse” for military action

DUBAI (Reuters): Iran’s Foreign Ministry said on Sunday reports of a gas attack in Syria were not based on facts and were an “an excuse” by the United States and Western countries to take military action against Damascus, the official Iranian news agency IRNA reported.

“Such claims and allegations by the Americans and some Western countries point to a new plot against the Syrian government and people, and are an excuse to take military action against them,” IRNA reported foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi as saying.

The news agency also quoted Qasemi as saying that the reports of the gas attack “do not match facts.”

Iran has been Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s most supportive ally against insurgents throughout the conflict. Iran-backed militias first helped his army stem rebel advances and, following Russia’s entry into the war in 2015, turn the tide decisively in Assad’s favour.

In a meeting with military commanders on Sunday, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei expressed confidence that enemies would fail in any confrontation with Iran.

Iran tells Trump he would regret dropping nuclear deal

LONDON (Reuters): Donald Trump will regret it if he pulls out of the nuclear deal with Iran, President Hassan Rouhani said on Monday, warning the U.S. president that Tehran’s response would be stronger than he thinks.

U.S. sanctions that were lifted under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) of 2015 will resume unless Trump waives them again on May 12. Trump has effectively set that as a deadline for European powers to “fix the terrible flaws” of the deal.

“The new U.S. president - who has big claims and many ups and downs in his words and actions - has been trying for 15 months to break the JCPOA ... but the structure of the JCPOA is so strong that it has not been shaken by such quakes,” Rouhani said in a speech broadcast live on state television.