Military exercises plan denied

Russia and Syria have denied an Iranian media report that Syria will host Russian, Chinese and Iranian military forces for joint…

Russia and Syria have denied an Iranian media report that Syria will host Russian, Chinese and Iranian military forces for joint exercises.

Iranian news agency Fars said yesterday that 90,000 troops and hundreds of ships, tanks and aircraft from the four countries would take part in the war games on land and sea in Syria soon.

The Russian defence ministry called such reports “disinformation” and Russian news agency Interfax quoted an adviser to Syrian president Bashar al-Assad as saying it was not true.

“There will be nothing like that. This is one of those [pieces of] false information that are distributed about [Syria],” Interfax quoted Bouthaina Shabaan, the adviser who was in Moscow yesterday, as saying. – (Reuters)