Ali Haider, Syrian minister for national reconciliation, told The Associated Press the move was part of a new diplomatic campaign against Syria at the UN.
On Monday, the White House issued a statement claiming it had “potential” evidence the Syrian regime was preparing to carry out a chemical weapon attack similar to one that killed dozens in April. The statement warned Syrian President Bashar al-Assad “he and his military will pay a heavy price” if they carry out another “mass murder attack.”
Pentagon spokesperson Capt. Jeff Davis said on Tuesday that activity at Syria’s Shayrat air base indicated “active preparations” of chemical weapons.
US intelligence claimed Shayrat air base was used to launch a sarin gas attack on the town of Khan Shaykhun in Idlib province on April 4, killing as many as 86 and injuring hundreds more.
Three days later, the US launched 59 Tomahawk missiles targeting the base’s airstrikes, hangars, control tower, and ammunition.
Damascus has denied it was responsible for the Khan Shaykhun attack.
Syria’s ally Russia has said it has no information that Damascus is making any preparations for a chemical attack.
“We don’t know what it is based on,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said of the White House’s statement.
Moscow also considers any threats to the “lawful administration of the Syrian Arab Republic as unacceptable,” Peskov added, noting the use of chemical weapons is “inadmissible and unacceptable.”
Tensions between the US, Russia, and Syria are fraught after the US shot down a Syrian jet last week, accusing it of targeting American allied forces on the ground, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
