British Foreign Secretary William Hague accused Iran of helping Syria
quell anti-government protests, providing "equipment" and logistical
support on how to crush the opposition, the
Daily Telegraph reported Monday. Hague criticized Iran's "hypocrisy in world affairs."
The UK foreign secretary's comments come after
Britain's top diplomat in Iran was summoned
last Thursday in Tehran to reject similar a accusation the UK government
had made about Syria-Iran ties during the upheavals in Syrian cities
from Damascus to Jisr al-Shughur.
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strong British, French, and American support for a UN resolution
condemning violent Syrian crackdown, there has been no clear effort to
initiate an international-military intervention in the country's
internal affairs.
China and Russia have opposed the UN
condemnation of Syrian President Bashar Assad's crackdown on the
opposition, making even a condemnation difficult to pass at the UN.
According to the
Telegraph,
Hague explained that there was "no prospect" of passing a resolution
similar to UN resolution 1973 on Libya, which authorized a no-fly zone.
The
British foreign secretary also mentioned the Arab League support for
international action in the Libyan crisis, but said that there was "no
such call" for action against Syria.
According to the
Telegraph, Hague's announcement comes as a mass grave
of at least 10 soldiers was found outside military police headquarters
in the northern town of Jisr al-Shaghur, the site of a recent tank-led
crackdown on dissidents that saw thousands flee to Turkey.
It was also in Jisr al-Shaghur where a Syrian military defector told
Al-Arabiya last week that he had been forced to shoot a number of
soldiers who had fired against orders on unarmed civilians, taking women
and children as human shields.
The government has claimed, through Syrian television, that the soldiers
were killed by "armed gangs" in the area as part of a wider attack that
had claimed at least 120.
At least 1,100 Syrian civilians have been killed in the ongoing conflict
in Syria as demonstrators and activists call for the ousting of Assad
who has been in power 11 years.