On April 6, the United States conducted a missile strike against the Syrian government’s Ash Sha’irat airbase in the Idlib province. US President Donald Trump claimed that the strike was a response to the alleged chemical weapon attack in Idlib the previous week, an incident which the White House blames on Damascus without providing evidence.
"We are against any foreign intervention in Syria. This was a foreign intervention. The Syrians should be left to decide what government they want to have. I think it is their fundamental right," Asif said on the sidelines of the ongoing VI Moscow Conference on International Security, following the meeting with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.
"This policy of regime change has not clearly contributed to peace in the Middle East," Asif said.
Commenting on the alleged chemical attack in Khan Sheikhoun, the Pakistani defense minister said that the through investigation was needed.
"It is for the international investigators to decide whether it was an attack or not," Asif said.
On April 4, the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces blamed the Syrian government for the alleged chemical weapons attack in Khan Sheikhoun. Damascus denied any involvement in the Idlib incident and the Syrian army said it did not possess chemical weapons as they were destroyed by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).
