President: Military Action to Plunge Region into Chaos

“In regional issues, the criteria should be international regulations, and any foreign intervention, especially military measures in defiance of international regulations, will plunge the region into instability,” Rouhani said in a Sunday meeting with Special Envoy of Japanese Prime Minister Masahiko Komura, here in Tehran.

The Iranian president’s comments follow recent war rhetoric by the US which has been trying to ramp up support for military intervention in Syria, after it accused the government of President Bashar al-Assad of using chemical weapons against rebels in the suburbs of capital Damascus on August 21, a charge Syria has strongly denied.

President Rouhani further called for condemnation of “unilateral military moves,” saying such actions should be denounced by all countries.

In a relevant development on August 29, the Iranian president and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, in a telephone conversation, emphasized that any arbitrary military attack against Syria is a "blatant violation of the international law", adding that such a move can only lead to more instability in the Middle East.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran strongly condemns use of chemical weapons anywhere and by anybody but believes that any pre-judgment on the issue can be dangerous,” Rouhani said at the time.

US President Barack Obama, who happens to be a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, is battling hard to build support at home and abroad for military action, but has so far only France on his side. And he is not sure whether he can get the authorization to attack from Congress.

Obama made that decision to get congressional approval after the British parliament rejected a motion by the government to take part in a possible attack and US opinion polls showed significant opposition to one, suggesting that he would be somewhat isolated if he ordered military action on his own.