Syrian allies Russia and Iran condemn Syria airstrikes

Syrian allies Russia and Iran condemn the move while the EU, Turkey, and Qatar praise the action by the UK, US and France.

The Damascus sky lights up with surface-to-air missile fire-courtesy Sky News

Syria

In a statement, Damascus branded the move illegal. Its foreign ministry said: "The Syrian Arab Republic condemns in the strongest terms the brutal American-British-French aggression against Syria, which constitutes a flagrant violation of international law."

Russia

The Kremlin strongly denounced the missile strikes and said it was calling an emergency session of the UN Security Council.

In a statement, it said: "Russia severely condemns the attack on Syria where Russian military are helping the lawful government in the fight with terrorism."

A British Tornado GR4 jet taking off from Cyprus ahead of the strikes-Courtesy Sky News

Iran

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, branded Donald Trump, Theresa May and Emmanuel Macron "criminals" following the joint military operation.

"The attack this morning against Syria is a crime," he said. "The American President, the French President and the British Prime Minister are criminals, they will gain nothing from it."

Iraq

The Iraqi Foreign Ministry has said the airstrikes in Syria could allow terrorism to expand in the region and branded the move a "very dangerous development".

It said: "Such action could have dangerous consequences, threatening the security and stability of the region and giving terrorism another opportunity to expand after it was ousted from Iraq and forced into Syria to retreat to a large extent."

Qatar

A statement released by the country's official news agency expressed support for the military action to stop further chemical attacks in Syria.

Turkey

Ankara hailed the move before accusing the Syrian regime of "crimes against humanity".

Its foreign ministry said: "We welcome this operation which has eased humanity's conscience in the face of the attack in Douma."

China

China said it was "opposed to the use of force" and called for a political solution and aa" return to the framework of international law".

Germany and others in Europe

German Chancellor Angela Merkel welcomed the move and said the strikes were a "necessary and appropriate military intervention".

The Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia and Czech Republic have all defended the airstrikes.

Donald Tusk, President of the European Council, said the European Union "will stand with our allies on the side of justice".

"Strikes by US, France and UK make it clear that Syrian regime together with Russia & Iran cannot continue this human tragedy, at least not without cost," he tweeted.

NATO

Nato Secretary General Jen Stoltenberg said in a statement he backed the US, UK and France in their action "against the Syrian regime's chemical weapons facilities and capabilities".He added: "This will reduce the regime's ability to further attack the people of Syria with chemical weapons."

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