TEHRAN (FNA)- US President Barack Obama agreed with his French and British counterparts to probe Russia's plan to defuse the Syria chemical weapons crisis at the United Nations, a US official said.


The discussion will test the viability of the plan with a view to enshrining commitments in a Security Council resolution, the official stated.

The strategy was agreed in separate phone calls between Obama and French President Francois Hollande and British Prime Minister David Cameron on Tuesday, the official added, the Islam Times reported.

The leaders agreed to work with Russia and China to probe the "viability of the Russian proposal to put all Syrian chemical weapons and related materials fully under international control in order to ensure their verifiable and enforceable destruction," the official noted.

On Tuesday, Obama said he will stop a US plan to strike Syria if the country agrees with the Russian proposal to surrender its possible chemical stocks to international control.

Obama said the Russian proposal could lead to a "breakthrough," but added that the US will maintain pressure on Syria by continuing his push for Congress to authorize military action.

As the US Congress debates authorizing an attack on Syria, Russia on Monday proposed Syria put its chemical weapons under international control.

The idea is a "potentially positive development", Obama said, adding that Washington will work with Moscow and the international community "to see if we can arrive at something that is enforceable and serious", the Islam Times reported.

The government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has welcomed the Russian proposal.

Obama on Monday gave a series of television interviews in an attempt to gain support from lawmakers and public for a limited military strike on Syria.

Recent polls show that the majority of Americans oppose any US military action against Syria.

Media reports suggest that even international allies of the United States are skeptical of Obama�s war plan in the Middle-East.

In recent days, the US, Israel and France have adopted the rhetoric of war against Syria over allegations that the Syrian government was behind a recent chemical attack near Damascus.

The call for military strike intensified after the militants operating inside Syria and the foreign-backed Syrian opposition claimed on August 21 that hundreds had been killed in a government chemical attack on militant strongholds in the Damascus suburbs of Ain Tarma, Zamalka and Jobar. The Syrian government has strongly denied the claim, accusing the militants of the attack.

By Fars News Agency

 

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