'If NATO attacks Syria, we'll fire missiles at Tel Aviv'

Syria's Assad says Damascus can call on Hezbollah to launch rocket attack on Israel if western countries take "crazy measures," FARS reports.

By JPOST.COM STAFF, REUTERS
Assad speaking 311 (photo credit: Screenshot)
Assad speaking 311
(photo credit: Screenshot)
Syrian President Bashar Assad warned western countries on Tuesday that if Syria comes under NATO attack it would fire missiles at Tel Aviv, Iranian semi-official news agency FARS reported.
During a meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmad Davutoglu Assad allegedly threatened: "If a crazy measure is taken against Damascus, I will need not more than 6 hours to transfer hundreds of rockets and missiles to the Golan Heights to fire them at Tel Aviv."
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According to the report, Assad also reiterated that Damascus will call on Hezbollah to launch such an intensive rocket and missile attack on Israel.
"All these events will happen in three hours, and in the following three hours, Iran will attack the US warships in the Persian Gulf and the US and European interests will be targeted simultaneously," Assad said, according to FARS.
Assad's comments came as Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday he would set out his country's plans for sanctions against Syria after he visits a Syrian refugee camp near the border in the coming days.
The move heralds a further deterioration in previously friendly relations between Ankara and Damascus since the start of Assad's crackdown on protesters.
"Regarding sanctions, we will make an assessment and announce our road map after the visit to Hatay, setting out the steps," Erdogan told reporters, adding he expected to visit the region at the weekend or the start of next week.
Erdogan said last month that Assad would be ousted by his people "sooner or later" and warned that Syria could slide into a sectarian civil war between Alawites and Sunnis.
At least 2,700 have been killed in the crackdown in Syria, according to a UN count. Demonstrators have begun to demand some form of international protection that stops short of Libya-style Western military intervention.