“A short time ago, I ordered the United States Armed Forces to launch precision strikes on targets associated with the chemical weapons capabilities of” Syria, Trump said in a televised address from the White House on Friday evening.
He also warned Russia and Iran, which have been assisting Syria in its counter-terrorism campaign, to end their support for the Damascus government, but said, “hopefully, someday we’ll get along with Russia, and maybe even Iran, but maybe not.”
US officials said that Tomahawk cruise missiles and other types of bombs were used in the attack.
British Prime Minister Theresa May also said she authorized the British armed forces to conduct coordinated and targeted strikes, noting, “I have done so because I judge this action to be in Britain’s national interest.”
“This is not about intervening in a civil war. It is not about regime change. It is about a limited and targeted strike that does not further escalate tensions in the region and that does everything possible to prevent civilian casualties,” she claimed.
Britain’s Defense Ministry said that four RAF tornado jets took part in the attacks, striking a Syrian military facility near the Syrian province of Homs.
French President Emanuel Macron also claimed the strikes targeted Syria’s capability to launch chemical attacks.
“We cannot tolerate the normalization of the use of chemical weapons,” he said in a statement issued shortly after huge explosions were heard in Damascus early Saturday followed by the sound of airplanes overhead.
France later said it fired 12 cruise missiles from frigates in the Mediterranean and deployed fighter jets from home bases as part of its strikes on Syria.
A presidency source said French Mirage and Rafale fighter jets were involved in the air strikes on Syria together with four frigate warships.
This included an air defence frigate, three multi-mission frigates, Mirage 2000 jets, Rafale, AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System) and support and supply assistance, the source said.
The three countries used an alleged chemical attack in the Eastern Ghouta suburb of Damascus last week as a pretext for their military action. They blame the Syrian government for the attack, without offering any evidence.
Syria has strongly rejected any role in the suspected attack, which came just as the Syrian army was about to declare full victory against the militants operating in the region.
Russia said the chemical attack was staged by desperate militants to provoke further intervention in the conflict by the West.
Iran's Foreign Minister strongly condemned the strikes
Iran's Foreign Minister strongly condemned the strikes as a violation of international law, warning against the repercussions of such an act of aggression against an independent country.
“The aggression is a flagrant violation of international law and a disregard of Syria’s right to national sovereignty and territorial integrity,” the Iranian Foreign Ministry said in statement released on Saturday.
“Based on religious, legal and ethical regulations, Iran opposes any use of chemical weapons, but at the same time, strongly rejects and condemns the fabrication of excuses to invade an independent country,” the statement read.
Iran also held the US and its allies accountable for the regional and extra-regional consequences of the military attack that launched against “without any evidence or proven document” their claims of a chemical attack by Damascus.
The statement further called on international organizations and bodies to firmly condemn the “arbitrary and unilateral” military attacks against a United Nations member state, which run contrary to international regulations and the UN Charter.
Syria came under attack one week after a suspected chemical weapons attack hit the Syrian town of Douma near Damascus.
Western countries blamed the incident on the Syrian government, but Damascus rejected the accusations as “chemical fabrications” made by the terrorists themselves in a bid to halt pro-government forces’ advances.
The fresh strikes by the US marked the second time that President Donald Trump has authorized attacks on Syria.
He had ordered a missile strike against Shayrat Airbase in Syria’s Homs Province on April 7, 2017. He claimed back then that the air field had been the origin of a suspected sarin gas attack on the town of Khan Shaykhun in Syria’s Idlib Province on April 4, 2017.
Elsewhere in its statement, the Iranian Foreign Ministry said that both military attacks on Syria came after terrorists faced defeats in Aleppo and Eastern Ghouta, respectively.