Deadly chemical attack in Syria causes widespread indignation
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Gabriela AmundarainOne hundred people, including children, were killed on Tuesday in a bombing raid that emitted toxic gas in Khan Cheikhoun, a rebel-held northwestern Syrian city. 400 others have been asphyxiated, according to the Union of Medical Care and Relief Organizations (UOSSM).
For the head of European diplomacy, Federica Mogherini, the Damascus regime bears "primary responsibility" of the "chemical" attack. "Today, the news is horrible. Obviously, the primary responsibility rests on the [Syrian] regime" she said on the sidelines of an international conference in Brussels on the reconstruction of Syria.
France has called for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council, to be held Wednesday. "The use of chemical weapons is an unacceptable violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention and a new testimony of the barbarism that the Syrian people have suffered for so many years," said the Foreign Affairs minister, Jean-Marc Ayrault.
The British Foreign Affairs minister, Boris Johnson, ruled in turn the reports of "a chemical weapons attack" in Syria as "horrible," showing "all the characteristics of an attack of the regime" of Syrian Bashar al-Assad.
"We cannot let this suffering continue," said British Prime Minister Theresa May, "horrified" by the attack. If it is determined that the bombing has been perpetrated by Damascus, "it will be further evidence of the barbarity of the Syrian regime," she added. "There can be no future for Assad in a stable Syria that is representative of all Syrians," she said in arguing for a transition without him.
Donald Trump is caught up
Longtime supporter of greater engagement in Syria, US Senator John McCain has once again called on the US president to "arm the Free Syrian Army," the main opposition force outside Islamic groups, adding: “Bashar al-Assad and his friends, that is to say, the Russians, pay attention to what the Americans say. I'm sure they feel encouraged by the withdrawal of the United States and vis-a-vis Russian openings. It is a new shameful chapter in American history. Assad is currently testing President Trump and our Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson. We cannot do nothing,” said Republican Senator John Kennedy on CNN.
Maryam Radjavi denounced "a major war crime"
The President-elect of the Iranian Resistance, Maryam Radjavi, described the chemical attack on Idlib and the ruthless carnage of defenseless people, including children, as "a major war crime."
Khamenei and al-Assad are responsible for the chemical attack, as was the case in August 2013 when there was chemical bombardment, and they have to be brought to justice, she insisted.
Maryam Radjavi praised the resistance in Syria and offered her sincere condolences to the victims of Idlib, and wished a quick recovery to the injured.
The persistence of war crimes in Syria with the increasing involvement of the guardians of the Islamic revolution and its militias clearly shows that as long as the Iranian regime and the Pasdaran are not expelled from Syria, and as their puppet government is in power in Damascus, peace, tranquility and even a cease-fire won't be possible in the country and the region.
Translated from Une attaque chimique meurtrière en Syrie provoque l’indignation générale