Russia and Iran Condemn U.S. Strikes in Syria

Russia reacted harshly on Friday to the American strike against Syria, maintaining its view that its ally, President Bashar al-Assad, had not bombed his own people with chemical weapons and saying that the United States’ operation would further corrode already dismal relations between Moscow and Washington.

Iran, Russia’s main ally in the region in buttressing Mr. Assad, also condemned the American attack, which left six people dead, according to the Syrian Army. Speaking on state television, a spokesman for the Syrian Army described the missile strikes as an act of “flagrant aggression.”

The United States’ allies in Europe and the Middle East were supportive, but Dmitri S. Peskov, the spokesman for President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, said the American strikes, which came in response to a chemical weapons attack in Idlib Province on Tuesday, represented a “significant blow” to American-Russian ties.

Mr. Putin considered the attack a breach of international law that had been made under a false pretext, Mr. Peskov said. Moscow also called on the United Nations Security Council to convene an emergency meeting, and the Russian Foreign Ministry said it was freezing an agreement with the United States to coordinate air operations over Syria.

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