(Photo: Hassan Ammar-AP/Shutterstock)
“We call on the parties concerned to remain calm, exercise restraint, refrain from any move that may lead to further escalation of the situation, and solve the issue peacefully through consultation and dialogue,” said Mr. Ma Zhaoxu.
China supports the United Nations playing an active role and calls on the international community to stick to diplomacy and the course of political settlement, giving full play to the role of the United Nations as the main mediator, he said.
The Russian President, Vladimir Putin, denounced the strikes as an “act of aggression” that would exacerbate the humanitarian catastrophe in Syria.
In a statement issued by the Kremlin, the Russian leader said Moscow was calling an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council over the strikes launched by the US, UK and France.
Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, called the US-led strikes on Syria a “military crime”. According to state news agency IRNA, Mr. Khamenei spoke at a meeting with Iranian officials and ambassadors from some Islamic countries.
Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov warned that the US strikes on Syria "will not be left without consequences."
"All responsibility for them rests with Washington, London and Paris," he said in a statement, adding "the worst apprehensions have come true."
"Our warnings have been left unheard," he said. "A pre-designed scenario is being implemented. Again, we are being threatened."
Earlier, US, British and French forces launched military air strikes on multiple government targets in Syria early on April 14th in response to a suspected chemical weapons attack that killed dozens of people last week./.