A top Syrian official on Sunday hailed the chemical-weapons agreement between the United States and Russia as a “victory” for the Assad regime, even as Washington ramped up rhetoric over the threat of force.
Giving Russia all the credit for the Geneva pact, Syria’s minister of national reconciliation, Ali Haidar, said the accord will avert and end a crisis.
“We welcome these agreements,” he was quoted as saying by the RIA Novosti agency.
Under the deal, Syria must submit an inventory of its chemical weapons this week but has until mid-2014 to dispose of them.
Haidar’s remarks were Syria’s first public comments on the agreement.
“On the one hand, [it] will help Syrians get out of the crisis, and on the other hand, [it] averted a war against Syria by removing the pretext for those who wanted to unleash one,” he said.
“These agreements are a credit to Russian diplomacy and the Russian leadership. This is a victory for Syria, achieved thanks to our Russian friends.”
But the United States was quick to warn that Syria and its president, Bashar al-Assad, face serious consequences if Damascus reneges.
“The threat of force is real, and the Assad regime and all those taking part need to understand that President Obama and the United States are committed to achieve this goal,” Secretary of State John Kerry said in Jerusalem, where he briefed Israeli leaders on the agreement.
Kerry said the deal should set the tone for other rogue nations.
The US has accused the Assad government of using sarin gas against its people on Aug. 21, killing more than 1,400.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the deal, which would secure and destroy Syria’s chemical weapons.
“If diplomacy has any chance to work, it must be coupled with a credible military threat,” Netanyahu said Sunday.