Damascus - Israeli officials' reported comments that Tehran
has been building listening stations in Syria to intercept Israeli
military communications were confirmed in Damascus but denied by
Iran, an Arab newspaper said Thursday.
A Syrian member of parliament, Mohammed Habash, told the pan-Arab
daily al-Sharq al-Awsat that the listening stations in Syria were no
secret.
'Syria is doing all it could to defend its territory and is
turning to military experts for help,' said Habash, who heads
parliament's Syrian-Iranian relations committee.
'We are still at war with Israel. We have the right to defend our
borders with all means within international law,' Habash added.
The real objective of Syrian cooperation with Russia, China and
Iran is to protect the country's borders, the lawmaker said.
Israeli security officials reportedly said Iran has built a number
of listening stations in Syria months ago.
'I want to tell the Israelis that they do not really know what
Syria has. Their expectations may be far below what is being done in
Syria to face any foolishness that Israel may commit,' Habash said.
But the media advisor at the Iranian embassy in Damascus denied
reported Israeli official statement about Iranian-built listening
stations in Syria.
'This is not the first time that Israeli sources give false news,'
the embassy official told al-Sharq al-Awsat.
'How could Iran build those stations in Syria? Which company built
them? We have no capabilities to do this in Syria,' the unnamed
official said.
Any cooperation between Syrian and Iranian private firms in
telephone and cell phone projects is taken by Western media to be
listening stations, the diplomat said.
'But if Syria built listening stations, then it would have the
right to in the same way Israel does,' he added.
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