U.S. State Department: Iran helping Syria quell anti-government protests

PanARMENIAN.Net - The U.S. State Department said on April 14 it has credible information that Iran is helping the Syrian government quell anti-government protests. Meanwhile a top U.S. diplomat is returning to Bahrain to try to ease a conflict between authorities and protestors there.

At a news briefing, State Department Acting Deputy Spokesman Mark Toner said while the Iranian government has “obvious problems” with its own human rights record, it continues to play a meddling role in the region.

“We believe that there is credible information that Iran is assisting Syria," said Toner. "I’m not going to get into details about that material assistance, but it’s of real concern to us.”

Toner said if the Syrian government, which has spoken of its interest in reform, is turning to Iran for help, it “can’t be very serious” about it, VOA reported.

As the same time, he called Iran’s encouragement of Arab protest movements, especially in Egypt and Bahrain, “hypocritical” though he said U.S. officials have not seen any indications that Iran is playing an “active role” in helping the mainly-Shiite Bahrain protest movement.