Iran condemns chemical weapons use, France urges action after Syria attack

Tehran/Paris April 6 (Xinhua) Iran strongly condemned the recent use of chemical weapons in Syria s rebel-held Idlib province while France urged international community to take swift action media reports said.

In a statement released on Wednesday the Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qasemi offered his condolences and said: We strongly condemn any use of chemical weapons regardless of its perpetrators and victims.

This painful disaster is not the first case of using chemical weapons in the Syrian crisis Tasnim news agency quoted him as saying adding that adopting double-standard stances toward the issue will hamper efforts to address such disasters.

French President Francois Hollande urged international community to take swift action against the alleged use of fatal gas which he described as a war crime Xinhua news agency reported.

Hollande on Tuesday accused Syrian President Bashar al-Assad of being responsible for an alleged gas attack in Syria s rebel-held Idlib province.

However the Syrian Foreign Ministry said Tuesday that the Syrian army doesn t have any kind of chemical weapons.

On Wednesday the Russian Defense Ministry also said the deadly gas contamination in Idlib was caused by the explosion of chemical weapons produced by the rebels.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights a Britain-based NGO said 58 people were killed and tens of others wounded by the gas attack in the rebel-held Idlib on Tuesday.

--IANS
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