TEHRAN - An Iranian diplomat says certain Arab countries are sending mercenaries to Syria to provoke further unrest and foil any chance of a negotiated settlement to the crisis. 

 

Ali Ahani, Iran’s ambassador to France, told Reuters on Thursday that Arab countries have sent weapons and fighters to Syria with help and financing from the U.S. and Israel.

 

“We have information about money, weapons and mercenaries that are being sent there to disrupt things,” Ahani, a former deputy foreign minister, said.

 

“There is information that certain Arab countries have sent them (mercenaries) and been financed by the United States and even Israel.” 

 

The diplomat did not specify which Arab countries were involved.

 

Saudi Arabia and Qatar have been the most vocal advocates of taking action to topple the Bashar Assad government, even publicly calling for arming the opposition fighters. Kuwait has joined those calls. 

 

The veteran Iranian diplomat said the conflict in Syria could be resolved only through dialogue without foreign intervention.

 

“We can’t impose a solution from overseas to resolve the internal problems of Syria,” he noted. 

 

Iran has called on the Assad government that people have legitimate demands that must be met.

 

“The opposition and government must be encouraged to try and resolve the problem themselves. There are demands of the Syrian people that have to be respected and that’s what we said to the Syrian government.”

 

The Obama administration has retreated from its initial refusal to stay out of the conflict in Syria by agreeing this week to provide direct humanitarian and communications assistance to the Syrian opposition, the anti-war reported. 

 

Many in Washington are calling for all-out war and regime change in Syria, although no evidence of substantial military intervention by the Obama administration has surfaced.

 

According to confidential emails from the private intelligence firm Stratfor that were released by WikiLeaks, Western forces have been inside Syria for months performing covert reconnaissance work. No officials have commented on the information, but more and more allegations of current or planned military intervention have come up in recent weeks, leading to increased suspicion of Washington’s official line.