Iran warns Israel on retaliation for Syria airstrike

(30 Aug 2023) RESTRICTION SUMMARY: ASSOCIATED PRESS Damascus - 30 August 2023 1. Various of Syrian foreign minister Faisal Mekdad meeting with Iranian counterpart Hossein Amirabdollahian 2. Mekdad and Amirabdollahian approaching lecterns for joint press conference 3. SOUNDBITE (Farsi) Hossein Amirabdollahian, Iranian foreign minister: ++INTERSPERSED WITH ARABIC INTERPRETATION++ “I would like to strongly condemn the miserable attacks of the fake Israeli entity against Aleppo international airport and civilian areas in Syria and I confirm that the criminal practices by the Zionist entity in the region will not remain without retaliation.” 4. Iranian flag 5. SOUNDBITE (Farsi) Hossein Amirabdollahian, Iranian foreign minister: ++INTERSPERSED WITH ARABIC INTERPRETATION++ “Lately, I received a message from my Danish counterpart in which the Danish foreign minister confirmed in his letter that his country is working on a draft law to punish those who desecrate religions and holy books and said the project of this draft law is on the schedule of the Danish parliament and expressed hope that this will end in the near future by approving this law. We welcome this move by Denmark and we advise Sweden and other European countries to move ahead towards respecting religious and holy books. 6. Iranian and Syria flags 7. Amirabdollahian and Mekdad leaving conference STORYLINE: Iran’s foreign minister condemned Wednesday an Israeli airstrike on the international airport of the Syrian city of Aleppo, saying such attacks would eventually face retaliation. Hossein Amirabdollahian made his comments during a news conference in the Syrian capital, Damascus, where he was beginning a two-day visit. On Monday, an Israeli airstrike damaged Aleppo's airport, putting the runway out of service. The airport has been targeted several times this year, including two attacks in March that also put it out of service. Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes on targets inside government-controlled parts of Syria in recent years but it rarely acknowledges or discusses the operations. Often the strikes target Syrian military forces or Iranian-backed groups. Tehran has been a main backer of the Syrian government since a 2011 uprising turned into full-blown civil war. It has sent thousands of Iran-backed fighters to Syria, helping to tip the balance of power in the favor of President Bashar Assad. Israel has targeted airports and seaports in the government-held parts of Syria in an apparent attempt to prevent arms shipments from Iran to militant groups backed by Tehran, including Lebanon’s Hezbollah. “The criminal practices by the Zionist entity in the region will not remain without retaliation,” Amirabdollahian said. The Iranian official said he had received a message from his Danish counterpart who informed him about plans by the Danish government to propose a law that would make it illegal to desecrate any holy book in Denmark. A recent string of public desecrations of the Quran in the Scandinavian country by a handful of anti-Islam activists has sparked angry demonstrations in Muslim countries. “We welcome this move by Denmark, and we advise Sweden and other European countries to move ahead towards respecting religious and holy books”, Amirabdollahian said. For Muslims, the burning of the Quran represents a desecration of their religion’s holy text. In the past, Quran burnings have sparked protests across the Muslim world, some of them violent. AP Video shot by Abd Al Rahman Shaheen =========================================================== Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives ​​ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/ You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/8759a88235dc460ca25873dc11adbf87

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