Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi: "Israel is playing with fire,"

Iranian Fatah 110

Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi: "Israel is playing with fire,"(Fars).

"Israel is playing with fire," Salehi warned in a meeting with Turkmen Foreign Minister Rasit Meredow in Tehran on Monday.

His remarks came after Israeli rockets struck a military research center on the outskirts of the Syrian capital, Damascus, on Sunday. The blasts occurred a day after an Israeli official said his regime had carried out an air strike targeting a consignment of missiles in Syria a few days earlier. The research centre hit on Sunday was also targeted by Israel in January.

There was no immediate comment from Israeli officials on Sunday's explosions but Israeli media have confirmed the regime's involvement in the attack.

Also during the Monday meeting, Salehi cautioned about the dangerous consequences of reinvigorating extremist groups in the region, and blasted certain regional and western states for supporting them which, he said, will spread extremism across the region and the world.

Meredow, for his part, warned that extremists have targeted the region, and said, "They aim to undermine regional security; therefore, we should cooperate in fighting this phenomenon."

Syria has been experiencing unrest since March 2011 with organized attacks by well-armed gangs against Syrian police forces and border guards being reported across the country.

The US and its western and regional allies have long sought to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his ruling system. 

The US daily, Washington Post, reported in May that the Syrian rebels and terrorist groups battling Assad's government have received significantly more and better weapons in recent weeks, a crime paid for by the Persian Gulf Arab states and coordinated by the United States.

The newspaper, quoting opposition activists and US and foreign officials, reported that Obama administration officials emphasized the administration has expanded contacts with opposition military forces to provide the Persian Gulf nations with assessments of rebel credibility and command-and-control infrastructure.

Opposition activists who several months ago said the rebels were running out of ammunition said in May that the flow of weapons - most bought on the black market in neighboring countries or from elements of the Syrian military in the past - has significantly increased after a decision by Saudi Arabia, Qatar and other Persian Gulf states to provide millions of dollars in funding each month. Read the full story here.