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The US had asked Damascus to cut its ties with Tehran as a precondition to prevent the present war in the Arab country, a senior Syrian diplomat unveiled.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n Speaking at a meeting with Ayatollah Nasser Makarem Shirazi, a senior Iranian religious leader, in the country’s Central city of Qom on Monday evening, Damascus’s Envoy to Tehran Adnan Mansour said Syria has been able to thwart the plots that terrorists had hatched to pave the ground for foreign intervention in the country thanks to the assistance provided by the country’s friends, namely Iran, Russia and China.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n He pointed to the US efforts to undermine Syria’s relations with its close ally, Iran, and said, “Of course, in the very first weeks of the conflict in Syria, the US Secretary of Defense sent a message to the Syrian government, and said we should have cut our ties with the Islamic Republic of Iran if have wanted to stop the war, and stressed that if we did so, they would provide us with whatever we want.”<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n The Syrian diplomat further said that warmongers from 40 countries are providing terrorists in Syria with advanced weapons but have so far failed to overthrow the Syrian government.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n Syria has been experiencing unrest since March 2011. Many people, including large numbers of Army and security personnel, have been killed in the violence.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n Earlier, a US senator disclosed that contrary to the statements made by Washington officials who claim they do not deliver weapons to militants in Syria, but deliver only assistance in the form of “non-lethal” means, there is growing evidence of the US complicity in transfer of weapons to terrorists operating in Syria.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n US Senator Rand Paul said that the statements by persons claiming that the US is not involved in smuggling weapons to Syria are false.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n He emphasized that there is reliable information in respect of consignments of weapons from Libya to Syria under US control.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n In an interview with US television channel CNN, the senator said he asked former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton a question concerning a consignment by the US from Libya via Turkey of weapons to Syrian rebels and she said that a week before the murder of the US ambassador to Libya a ship with lots of weapons was sent from the country, and the US knew about it.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n A meeting was held with the captain of the ship, who told the US representatives about weapons that had already been sent to the Syrian rebels and a shoot-out between the militants because of weapons division.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n According to Paul, the US ambassador to Libya, Christopher Stevens, not only supervised the shipment of weapons to the Syrian opposition, but also recruited jihadists for the Syrian opposition.<\/span><\/p>\n