Iran warned on Saturday any attack on Syria would be considered an attack on the Islamic republic, AP reported.
In its strongest warning to date against outside intervention in Syria, an aide to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Ali Akbar Velayati, said Western and Gulf powers were trying to destabilize the “golden ring of resistance,” referring to Iran, Syria, and paramilitary groups such as Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza.
The comments came as warplanes bombed districts in Damascus and regime forces uncovered a network of tunnels used to smuggle arms into the country.
Since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad broke out in March 2011, more than 60,000 people are estimated to have been killed in the fighting.
Iran is Syria’s strongest ally in the region, and has said its Revolutionary Guard force has top-ranking officers in Damascus providing advice. Iran has long been accused of arming and funding the suppression of the protest movements in Syria, and of aiding the regime in its armed conflict against rebels by providing weapons and money.
