Iran condemns Syria blast, blames external forces for ‘terrorist actions’

Iran on Saturday condemned a deadly suicide bombing in Damascus, claiming that such “terrorist actions” were the work of foreign governments that wanted to arm the Syrian opposition.

Iran “condemns terrorist act that resulted in killing and injuring Syrian people and also condemns foreign intervention,” the deputy foreign minister in charge of Arab and African affairs, Hossein Amirabdolahian, said in a statement posted on his ministry’s website.

“The parties who back sending weapons to Syria are responsible for killing innocent people. Some parties, by sending weapons and (committing) terrorist actions in this country, are pursuing their own specific goals,” he said.

State media said at least 11 people died and 28 were wounded in Friday’s suicide bombing which hit worshippers leaving a mosque after the main weekly prayers.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said two civilians died.

Syria is the chief Middle East ally of Iran, which has pledged its support to beleaguered President Bashar al-Assad.

The persistent bloodshed has endangered a hard-won truce brokered by international peace envoy Kofi Annan even before the full deployment of a promised 300-strong U.N. military observer mission.

‘Some consider themselves above U.N.’

Amirabdolahian stressed in his statement that the solution to the Syrian unrest should be a “solely political one” that incorporates reforms promised by Assad.

“Some parties consider themselves above the U.N. and its special envoy’s plan and are trying to impose their will with hasty actions,” he said, in another swipe at countries that have argued in favor of arming the Syrian opposition.

Amirabdolahian did not name them but Iran’s Gulf Arab rivals Qatar and Saudi Arabia have been among the most outspoken champions of arming the rebels, although both governments insist they are not yet doing so.

U.S. officials have voiced suspicion that Iran is supplying Assad’s regime with weapons and military advisers, but Tehran has denied that.

No peace in Syria

Two weeks into a cease-fire agreement, there still was no peace in Syria: Security agents in Damascus collected the remains of 10 people killed in a suicide bombing. Activists reported troops firing on protesters. Video showed a crowd carrying a slain boy to U.N. observers as proof of regime violence.

The head of the United Nations said Syrian president Assad’s continued crackdown on protests has reached an “intolerable stage,” and that the U.N. will try to speed up the deployment of up to 300 monitors to Syria. Only 15 are there now.

“The government of Syria must live up to its promises to the world,” U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Friday.

Tens of thousands of people poured into the streets across Syria for weekly anti-regime marches after Muslim noon prayers Friday. Amateur video from the central city of Homs, where the presence of U.N. observers helped halt weeks of artillery attacks, showed rows of men lining up in a main street, holding each other by the shoulders as they sang and danced.

In another protest, people held up 45 squares of cardboard with writing and drawings that - when viewed together from above - showed a picture of Assad and the words “oppression, corruption, despotism, demolition.” When they simultaneously flipped over the squares, it created a new message that read: “Toward a modern society that is more developed and sensible.”

Troops have routinely opened fire on protests since the uprising against Assad began 13 months ago, but there appeared to be fewer violent incidents Friday than in previous weeks. Still, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said five protesters were killed by fire from the security forces, including a 10-year-old boy.