Iran lawmaker criticizes US training of Syrian rebels

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — A prominent Iranian lawmaker on Thursday said a U.S.-backed plan to train moderate Syrian rebels to battle the Islamic State extremist group is a “strategic mistake” that will fuel terrorism.

Alaeddin Boroujerdi, who heads the Iranian parliament’s national security and foreign policy committees, made the remarks during a high-profile visit to Damascus. The Syrian government has said the program will complicate efforts to reach a political solution to the conflict, now in its fifth year.

The training started in Jordan earlier this month with about 90 rebels and is due to expand to include training in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey. U.S. officials say the program is part of a broader effort to combat the IS group – not President Bashar Assad’s forces. Many rebels have criticized that narrow focus and said the assistance is too little, too late.

“This is a strategic mistake by the U.S. and allies in the West,” Boroujerdi said. “It only reveals the real hated and despicable face of what they do in terms of training and preparing terrorists.” He went on to reaffirm Iran’s support for Assad’s “stable and permanent” government.

The Syrian government also describes the rebels fighting to topple Assad as “terrorists.”

Boroujerdi’s visit comes as Syrian forces have faced a number of battlefield setbacks in the north and south, as well as an IS advance in central Syria, where the extremists have seized a large arms depot and were engaged in fierce clashes Thursday with government forces outside of Palmyra, a major historical site.

Assad has acknowledged the setbacks, but vowed to fight on. Syrian troops backed by Lebanese Hezbollah fighters have meanwhile made progress in the Qalamoun mountains along Lebanon’s border, not far from the Syrian capital

In the northern province of Aleppo, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the government has carried out an intensified aerial bombing campaign. The group said at least 39 civilians, including 17 children, were killed in an attack on Wednesday in the province’s countryside.