Iran strongly warned the US and its allies on Tuesday against considering any possible military attack against
Syria, following allegations of the use of chemical weapons by the regime of President
Bashar Assad.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Araghchi, addressing journalists at a regular briefing in Tehran, said such an attack would have "dangerous consequences" which would "involve the whole region".
He said he hoped that US and European leaders "who seek military attacks, or make remarks about such attacks, have enough wisdom", and stressed that the UN Security Council "has issued no permissions in this regard, and apparently is not going to issue any."
His words came as the British government said its military was drawing up contingency plans for a possible military attack on Syria, in reaction to the alleged chemical attack on civilians in the country.
The office of British Prime Minister David Cameron said on Tuesday that the UK is considering a "proportionate" response that would deter Assad from using chemical weapons in the future.
Araghchi also responded to recent comments from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu which linked Iran with the use of chemical weapons in Syria.
Netanyahu had suggested that Iran was using Syria as a "testing ground" and was watching closely "how the world responds to the atrocities committed by Iran's client state Syria."
Describing Netanyahu's comments as "worthless", Araghchi pointed out that Iran had had "fully cooperated" with international bodies which had confirmed that "there's no chemical weapons in Iran whatsoever."
Asked about the possibility of any resumption of relations between Iran and the UK, Araghchi said that if the right conditions were met and relations could be re-established, then they "will be at the level of charge d'affaires for the time being".
Meanwhile on Tuesday, Omani Sultan Qaboos was leaving Iran following discussions focusing on bilateral and international affairs.
Qaboos' visit has raised hopes that Omani mediation could help ease tensions between Iran and Western powers over Tehran's disputed nuclear program.
It coincided with the signing of a draft agreement between the two countries on Monday to build a pipeline for the export of Iranian natural gas.
Iran's foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who was seeing Sultan Qaboos off from Tehran's Mehrabad International Airport, commented on the arrival in Tehran on Monday of UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman.
Feltman previously served as US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs until May of last year.
But Zarif dismissed suggestions that the visit was in any way connected to ties between the US and Iran.
"It has nothing to do with it," he said. "He travelled to Iran within the framework of regional developments and as the political under-secretary of the UN. My colleagues and I had good discussions with him in this regard."
AP