Iran warns against Patriot deployment

Iran's army chief of staff warned Nato on Saturday that stationing Patriot anti-missile batteries on Turkey's border with Syria was setting the stage for world war.
General Hassan Firouzabadi, whose country has been a staunch supporter of President Bashar al-Assad throughout the 21-month uprising against his rule, called on the Western military alliance to reverse its decision to deploy the defence system.
"Each one of these Patriots is a black mark on the world map, and is meant to cause a world war," Firouzabadi said, according to the Iranian Students' News Agency. "They are making plans for a world war and this is very dangerous for the future of humanity and for the future of Europe itself."
Despite the warning, Firouzabadi did not threaten any action against Turkey in his speech to senior commanders at the National Defence University in Tehran. "We are Turkey's friend and we want security for Turkey," he said.
Nato's US commander said on Friday the alliance was deploying the anti-missile system along Syria's northern frontier because Assad's forces had fired Scud missiles that landed near Turkish territory.
Meanwhile, warplanes bombarded a Palestinian refugee camp in southern Damascus yesterday for the first time in Syria's uprising, as the army escalated its bid to suppress the rebellion in the capital.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the air strike killed at least eight civilians at Yarmuk camp, which has been hit by intermittent violence during the past few months.
The raid took place as President Bashar al-Assad's forces used fighter jets against rebel positions in the provinces of Hama and Aleppo, where rebels stepped up a bid to seize a military academy.
The Observatory gave an initial toll of 52 people killed nationwide in Syria, adding to the total of more than 43,000 killed since the start of the uprising in March last year.
Analysts say the Assad regime is still standing firm despite predictions by Western officials, and even a top Russian diplomat, of its imminent fall, and the fact rebel fighters now hold vast swathes of territory.