A confidential U.N. report reveals Iran is exporting arms to the Syrian government in violation of a ban on weapons sales, the same day President Bashar al-Assad blamed the violence in his country on the work of foreign-backed fighters.The draft report describes three seizures of Iranian weapons shipments, including two bound for Syria, within the last year, a Western diplomat told CNN on Wednesday on condition of anonymity. The official was not authorized to release details to the media.The report was drafted by a panel of experts and submitted to the U.N. Security Council’s committee that monitors sanctions against Iran, the official said. The revelations came as al-Assad, in a rare interview, told Russia 24 that weapons in the hands of rebels were flowing into the country from neighboring Lebanon and Turkey. “You can’t simply close the borders and stop the smuggling, but you can reduce the flow,” he said.
