WikiLeaks Document: Syria Told Iran It Wouldn't Help Attack Israel

The Syrian leadership in Damascus told a senior Iranian delegation to Damascus last year that it would not assist Iran in retaliating to an Israeli strike against its nuclear facilities, according to an American diplomatic cable WikiLeaks published Wednesday.

The U.S. Embassy in Damascus wrote the cable, which was dated Dec. 20, 2009, and summed up the visits that month of Iranian National Security Adviser Saeed Jalili, Vice President and Environmental Department chief Mahammed-Javad Mahamadzideh, and Defense Minister Ahmad Ali Vahidi to Damascus.

The cable cited an unnamed Syrian official who claimed that, during the talks, the Syrians told the Iranians that they would not participate in an Iranian retaliation to an potential Israeli strike.