Iran rejects allegations about arms shipment to Syria

The Iranian Foreign Ministry categorically rejected the allegations that the country has sent weapons to Syria, and said such claims are raised by those sides which are themselves training the terrorist groups for attacking the Syrian people. Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Seyed Abbas Araqchi pointed to the recent remarks of Iraq Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari concerning the possibility of Iran's arms shipment to Syria through Iraq's airspace, and said the Iraqi government has inspected a number of Iranian airplanes randomly so far and has declared officially that they had no military equipment on board. He added that in some cases, the Iraqi officials stated that the cargo of the Iranian airplanes have been food and medical items. The spokesman continued that baseless claims of dispatching weapons by Iran to Syria is being made by those who are training and arming terrorists and unlawful groups in Syria to fight against people and government of that country and are acting against the will of the international community to find a political solution in Syria. Syria has been experiencing unrest since March 2011 with organized attacks by well-armed gangs against Syrian police forces and border guards being reported across the country. In October 2011, calm was eventually restored in the Arab state after President Assad started a reform initiative in the country, but Israel, the US and its Arab allies are seeking hard to bring the country into chaos through any possible means. Tel Aviv, Washington and some Arab capitals have been staging various plots in the hope of stirring unrests in Syria once again. The US and its western and regional allies have long sought to topple Bashar al-Assad and his ruling system. Media reports said that the Syrian rebels and terrorist groups have received significantly more and better weapons in recent weeks, a crime paid for by the Persian Gulf Arab states and coordinated by the United States. The US daily, Washington Post, reported in May 2012 that the Syrian rebels and terrorist groups battling the President Bashar al-Assad's government have received significantly more and better weapons in recent weeks, a crime paid for by the Persian Gulf Arab states and coordinated by the United States. The newspaper, quoting opposition activists and US and foreign officials, reported that Obama administration officials emphasized the administration has expanded contacts with opposition military forces to provide the Persian Gulf nations with assessments of rebel credibility and command-and-control infrastructure. Opposition activists who had earlier complained that the rebels were running out of ammunition said in May 2012 that the flow of weapons - most bought on the black market in neighboring countries or from elements of the Syrian military in the past - has significantly increased after a decision by Saudi Arabia, Qatar and other Persian Gulf states to provide millions of dollars in funding each month.