The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution in Iran, Imam Sayyed Ali Khamenei told the visiting Syrian PM Wael al-Halaqi that the United States and the Zionist entity were responsible for the ongoing crisis in Syria.

The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution in Iran, Imam Sayyed Ali Khamenei told the visiting Syrian PM Wael al-Halaqi that the United States and the Zionist entity were responsible for the ongoing crisis in Syria.

"The main and behind-the-scenes operators behind the painful issues in Syria are America and the Zionist regime," the Leader told Halqi on the sidelines of a Non-Aligned Movement summit in Tehran.

The main operators in the Syrian issue are those who have been flooding weapons into Syria and financially backing the irresponsible groups," Imam Khamenei said.

The Leader stressed Syria's right to defending itself and confronting the operations carried out by the armed groups.
His eminence said the NAM was a more legitimate forum "to tackle Syria's issues than America, NATO and some European nations."

Imam Khamenei called the bloodshed in Syria "unacceptable" but said it was "the Syrian government that has been the victim of current events."

He urged Halaqi to "remove all pretexts" preventing the opposition from engaging in dialogue and to press on with promised political reforms.

For his part, the Syrian PM thanked Imam Khamenei for Iran's support, and delivered greetings from Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

"The Syrian government is determined to confront all terrorist groups and to cleanse areas of these groups while moving ahead with political reforms and national dialogue," Halqi was quoted as saying.