Assad: Washington's Attack Fails to 'Raise the Morale of US-Backed Terrorists'

Syrian President Bashar Assad said on Sunday that the US has failed to achieve the goal behind its attack on a military airfield in Syria, which is namely "raising the morale of the US-backed terrorist gangs."

The US has failed to achieve the goal behind its attack on a military airfield in Syria, which is namely "raising the morale of the US-backed terrorist gangs," Syrian President Bashar Assad said on Sunday, according to the country's news agency SANA.

The comments came in a phone conversation with Iranian President Rouhani who called the Syrian leader to voice his strong condemnation of what he called the "US' blatant aggression" on Syria.

The Iranian President said that this aggression constitutes a "blatant violation of the Syrian sovereignty and all the international laws and conventions," the agency said.

The Iranian President also stressed that his country stands by the Syrian state in its war against terrorism and in the initiatives it proposes to find a peaceful solution to the crisis in Syria that would lead to stopping the bloodshed of the Syrians.

In response, the Syrian leader made assurances that the Syrian people and army are determined to eliminate terrorism in every part of Syrian territory.

Bashar Assad also thanked the Iranian leadership and the people for their continued support of the Syrian people in the face of the terrorist war which is backed by many Western and regional states.

On Friday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov commented on the attack, saying that the United States' missile strikes on a military airfield in Syria violates international law and represents an act of aggression against a sovereign state under a far-fetched pretext.

"President [Vladimir] Putin regards the US attacks on Syria as an aggression against a sovereign state in violation of the norms of international law, and under a trumped-up pretext at that," Peskov told reporters.

Russian President Vladimir Putin also sees the latest US missile strikes on a military airfield in Syria as an attempt to distract from the mounting civilian casualties in Iraq, the Kremlin added.

The US launched 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at the Syrian military airfield in Ash Sha'irat near Homs late Thursday. US President Donald Trump said the attack was a response to the alleged chemical weapons use in Idlib on Tuesday, which Washington blames on Damascus, without providing any evidence or waiting for an independent investigation.