ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Iran on Monday rejected media reports accusing Tehran of involvement in Syria's deadly violence that has claimed the lives of up to 1,300 people.

 

"This accusation is completely ridiculous and rejected, and we think that pointing the finger of accusation at Iran and Iran's friends is wrongly addressed a deviant trend, and a hundred percent misleading," said foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei during his weekly briefing. 

 

Violent clashes broke out on Thursday between Syrian security forces and loyalists of ousted former President Bashar al-Assad along the western coast of the country after 16 security personnel were killed in an ambush. 

 

The incident prompted a retaliatory response from the security forces, who have since then gone on to “publicly execute” over 970 civilians accused of siding with the insurgents, including women and children, as of the time of this writing, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).

 

 Baqaei said there is "no justification" for attacks on minorities in Syria, including Alawites, adding the attacks "have truly wounded the emotions and conscience of both the countries of the region and internationally"

 

Iran was a strong backer and a staunch ally of Assad before he was toppled by Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham in an 11-day lightning rebel offensive led by current President Ahmad al-Sharaa in early December.

 

 

The executions have induced responses from many regional and international entities, with Iraq, Iran, European countries, the US, and the UN condemning the killing of civilians by the security forces in the altercations.

 

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa has vowed to “hold accountable” anyone involved “in the bloodshed of civilians."

 

"We will hold accountable, firmly and without leniency, anyone who was involved in the bloodshed of civilians... or who overstepped the powers of the state,” Sharaa said in a video posted by state news agency SANA.