Iran rejects reports of arms supplies to Syria

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast rejected on Saturday reports saying that Iran has sent weapons to Syria, the semi-official ISNA news agency reported. The Islamic republic of Iran rejects any military intervention in Syria's developments and dismisses reports on weapons delivery to the Syrian government, Mehmanparast was quoted as saying. The Islamic republic's position on Syria has always been supporting any reform in favor of the Syrian people, he stressed. Earlier, media reported that Iran has kept supplying Syria with arms to assist its government to crack down on the opposition. Iran has been the supporter of the Syrian government "as the front line of resistance" against its arch enemy Israel, and has accused the militants fighting Syrian administration as the " terrorists" backed by the West. Since the unrest broke out in Syria last March, the number of casualties in the conflict has been rising steadily amid unrelenting clashes and fights between government forces and opposition fighters. The United Nations recently put the death toll in the Syrian unrest at 6,000, while Damascus says that more than 2,000 army and security personnel have been killed during the 11-months turmoil and blamed the bloodshed on armed groups backed by foreign powers. However, Western powers and some Arab countries still hold the Syrian government entirely responsible for the nationwide unrest, and have been demanding that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad relinquish power. On Thursday, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon appointed Kofi Annan, former UN chief, as a joint UN-Arab League envoy on the Syrian crisis to broker a peaceful resolution to the conflict.