Kerry Criticizes Iran and Russia for Shipping Arms to Syria
Kerry Criticizes Iran and Russia for Shipping Arms to Syria
By MICHAEL R. GORDON
Published: March 4, 2013
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Making a case for providing increased support to the Syrian opposition, Secretary of State John Kerry criticized Russia and Iran on Monday for continuing to ship arms to President Bashar al-Assad of Syria.
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Mr. Kerry has sought to enlist Russia’s cooperation for a political
solution to the war in Syria and met last week with Foreign Minister
Sergey V. Lavrov.
But Mr. Kerry said in Riyadh that Russia had continued to send weapons to forces loyal to Mr. Assad.
“Believe me, the bad actors, regrettably, have no shortage of their
ability to get arms — from Iran, from Hezbollah, from Russia,
unfortunately,” Mr. Kerry said in a joint news conference with the Saudi
foreign minister, Prince Saud al-Faisal.
Mr. Kerry attended an international conference in Rome last week that
was convened to show backing for the Syrian opposition. The secretary
of state appeared to welcome some outside efforts to provide military
support to rebels in Syria, even though the Obama administration has
decided not to send arms. Asked if there was a danger that arms sent by
Saudi Arabia might fall into the wrong hands, Mr. Kerry said that it was
important to put pressure on the Assad government.
“There is no guarantee that one weapon or another might not, at some
point in time, flow into the wrong hands,” he said. “But I will tell you
this: there is a very clear ability now in the Syrian opposition to
make certain that what goes to the moderate, legitimate opposition is in
fact getting to them, and the indication is that they are increasing
their pressure as a result of that.”
“Morally, we have a duty,” the Saudi foreign minister said, alluding to efforts to provide military support.
He added that the Assad regime was firing missiles at population centers
in Syria at times of the day when civilians were concentrated. “Nobody
who has done that to his citizens can claim a right to lead a country,”
he said.
While it has decided not to send arms, the Obama administration said
that it would send food and medical supplies to the armed wing of the
Syrian opposition. Britain is expected to soon announce a package of
nonlethal military assistance, like vehicles.
Mr. Kerry had a working lunch on Monday with Mahmoud Abbas, the
president of the Palestinian Authority, who was visiting Riyadh along
with leaders from the Persian Gulf states. The meeting comes two weeks
before President Obama and Mr. Kerry are planning to travel to Israel, Palestinian areas and Jordan to hear ideas for trying to revive the Middle East peace effort.
On Iran, Mr. Kerry repeated the American refrain that time was running
out for a diplomatic solution regarding Iran’s refusal to accept
internationally verified limits on its nuclear program. He reiterated the argument that allowing Iran to develop nuclear weapons would encourage nuclear proliferation and heighten tensions in the region.
“But talks will not go on for the sake of talks, and talks cannot become
an instrument of delay that will make the situation more dangerous,”
Mr. Kerry said. “So there is a finite amount of time.”
Saudi Arabia was the seventh stop on Mr. Kerry’s nine-nation tour. His
next are the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, nations that are very
concerned about Iran and the situation in Syria.
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