UNITED NATIONS, August 28. /TASS/. Syria’s permanent mission to the United Nations has presented documents proving terrorists’ plans to carry out a chemical weapons attack in the Syrian province of Idlib and put the blame on Damascus, Syrian Permanent Representative to the UN Bashar Jaafari said at a United Nations Security Council meeting on Tuesday.
According to him, the documents make it clear that the Jabhat al-Nusra terror group (outlawed in Russia) and some other terrorists pledged readiness to use chemical weapons against civilians in Idlib in order to put the blame on Syrian authorities and justify a foreign military aggression.
Jaafari pointed out that in April, the US and its allies had carried out an attack on Syria after a chemical weapons provocation. The Syrian envoy called on countries capable of influencing terrorists to prohibit their agents from taking any action.
According to him, Damascus condemned the use of chemical weapons no matter the circumstances and considered it to be immoral. Jaafari reiterated that the Syrian government did not have chemical weapons and was committed to its obligations to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which had informed the international community that Syria had implemented its obligations in that field.
The Syrian envoy said that any aggression against his country would be an aggression against a United Nations founding state, as well as against global peace and security, and would amount to supporting terrorism.
Plans for provocation
Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov told reporters on Monday that the United States was increasing the number of cruise missiles deployed to the Middle East, planning to target Syrian government troops following a staged chemical weapons attack that terrorists were about to carry out in the Idlib province. He added that "this is another proof of the United States’ intention to take advantage of an attack staged by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham militants with the support of British intelligence agencies in the Idlib province, aimed at blaming Syrian government forces for using chemical weapons."
According to Konashenkov, on August 25, the USS Ross, a guided-missile destroyer, entered the Mediterranean armed with 28 Tomahawk cruise missiles capable of hitting any target in Syria. The USS The Sullivans armed with 56 cruise missiles arrived in the Persian Gulf several days ago, while a US B1-B bomber equipped with 24 air-to-surface standoff missiles was relocated to the Al Udeid US air base in Qatar.
In early April, a number of non-governmental organizations, including the White Helmets, reported that Syrian troops had allegedly used chemical weapons in the town of Douma on April 7. On April 14, the United States, Great Britain and France attacked several Syrian targets, firing over 100 missiles. The three countries claimed that the attack was a response to the alleged use of chemical weapons by the Syrian government.