U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley on Sunday praised President Trump's decision to launch missile strikes in response to a chemical weapons attack in Syria, calling it "one of the president's finest hours".
At the United Nations on Friday, Russia's deputy ambassador, Vladimir Safronkov, strongly criticised what he called the US' "flagrant violation of global law and an act of aggression" whose "consequences for regional and worldwide security could be extremely serious".
On Thursday, Russia also suspended a pact with the U.S.
University student Ashraf Fadel said he came to denounce "the unjust American aggression against Syria".
He warned that the USA attacks would create a rift among countries in fighting against terrorism and divert the political negotiations about Syria into a military direction.
Russian Federation has backed Syria for much of the six-year conflict, and has used its veto power in the UN Security Council on several occasions to prevent action being taken against the Damascus government. There was no comment from Russian Federation or Iran about the statement.
Reluctant to put significant troops on the ground in Syria, the US for years has struggled to prevent Assad from strengthening his hold on power.
Speaking to Jake Tapper, the host of the State of the Union show, on Sunday, the USA official said that the issue of the new sanctions is already being discussed. "They are repeating offense of their predecessors", Khamenei was quoted as saying by the official IRNA news agency.
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After the accusations emerged, Trump said: "I think he shouldn't have settled; personally I think he shouldn't have settled". And there might also be global business pressures on its parent company, 21st Century Fox , that factored into the decision.
In the ongoing war in Syria, Russia has backed the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad militarily.
Iran, which has provided crucial military and political support to Assad, meanwhile called for a fact-finding mission to determine what caused the chemical attack in Khan Sheikhoun.
Western countries have blamed Assad's armed forces for the airborne attack dispersing what appeared to be a nerve agent on the town of Khan Sheikhoun on April 4, killing more than 86 people.
Speaking on a United States talkshow to be aired Sunday, Rex Tillerson insisted he had no concerns about possible retaliation by Moscow as "Russians were never targeted" in the strike and said defeating the IS group was the top priority for the United States in Syria.
The American strikes "aim at slowing the victories of the Syrian army and its allies, and reinforcing terrorist groups", they said in a statement. The U.S. military targeted the Shayrat airbase because it believed that the chemical attack in Idlib Province that led to the death of dozens of civilians was launched from the airfield.
Foreign ministers from the G7 nations will meet in Italy on Monday and Tuesday for talks likely to be dominated by Russia's ties to the Syrian regime. The chemical attack has even led to calls for U.S. troops to be sent in - the one course of action guaranteed to turn this civil war into something even worse.
More than 320,000 people have been killed in Syria since the conflict erupted in March 2011 with anti-government demonstrations.
"Congress needs to work with the president to try and deal with this long-term strategy, lack of strategy, really, in Syria", he said.
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