Iran's president also defended statements he made last Monday before a U.N.conference in which he called Israel the most cruel and racist regime in the world.
VOA: standard.2009.04.26
And in the interim we are going to move forcefully on a U.N. sanctions regime.
Russia has been Assad's staunch ally, supplying Damascus with weapons, shielding the regime from tougher U.N. sanctions and supporting Assad in his resolve to remain in power.