Russia, Iran condemn US strike

Moscow and Tehran have furiously condemned the American air strike on a Syrian air base on April 7, which marked the first direct U.S. assault on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government.

Al-Assad's office called the strike "foolish and irresponsible" and Moscow announced a series of retaliatory steps, including plans to strengthen Syrian air defenses.

Russia also demanded an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council and of the International Syria Support Group's cease-fire task force.

The strike, 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles fired from Navy ships in the Mediterranean at the Shayrat airfield at 3:40 a.m. (12:40 a.m. GMT), came a few days after a suspected sarin gas attack in the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhun killed at least 86 people, which U.S. President Donald Trump and his allies blamed on al-Assad.

"What America did is nothing but foolish and irresponsible behavior, which only reveals its short-sightedness and political and military blindness to reality," al-Assad's office said in a statement.

The Syrian regime has denied using chemical weapons in Khan Sheikhun.

With U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson due in Moscow next week, the Kremlin called the U.S. strike a "gross ... violation of international law" and warned it would inflict "considerable damage" on U.S.-Russia ties.
It immediately suspended a deal with the United States aimed at avoiding clashes in Syrian airspace.

Under the deal, signed after Russia launched an air campaign in Syria in September 2015, Russia and the U.S. had exchanged information about their flights to avoid incidents in the crowded skies over Syria.

A spokesman for the U.S-led coalition fighting the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) said...