An Iranian diplomat said the US is using allegations of a chemical attack by the Syrian government against the opposition-held positions as a tool to justify a military strike, noting that any such claim first needs legal verification.
"Any allegation about the use of chemical weapons must be investigated and verified through legal channels," Hossein Jaberi Ansari, the foreign minister's special assistant for political affairs, was quoted as saying by IRNA.
"Iran, as a major victim of chemical weapons in contemporary history, has always had a clear stance that using chemical weapons by anyone or any group is unacceptable," he said after a meeting with Moscow's special envoy on the Syria peace process Alexander Lavrentiev in Tehran on Tuesday.
While an international team of chemical weapons experts is reportedly preparing to go to Syria to investigate the US-led allegations, the White House is said to be weighing a possible military response to the suspected chemical assault that killed dozens of people in the city of Douma in eastern Ghouta.
A US guided missile destroyer, the USS Donald Cook, has been dispatched to the eastern Mediterranean.
The Syrian government, which has denied the charges, has put its military on alert. Iran and Russia, the main backer of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, dispute the US charges, insisting that no attack occurred and that only the opposition groups have access to chemical weapons.
They have called the reports a fabrication created to push for military action against the Assad government to dampen its gains in recent months against the foreign-backed terrorists and opposition groups.
"Whenever there are significant gains in the political and battle fields against the terrorists, we see a concerted tactic by the terror groups and outside players," Jaberi Ansari said.
"They are trying to stage a drama by misusing the chemical issue so they can press ahead with their ploys to maintain insecurity and instability and back the terrorists."
As pressure and threats mounted, the US and Russia used their veto power at the United Nations Security Council to kill each other’s proposals for investigations into the attack and determine who was responsible, the Washington Post reported.
The embattled US President Donald Trump who is facing a host of internal and personal crisis, has warned of a “big price to pay” over the alleged chemical attack.
Russia and Syria said that hours after the reports of the attack on Sunday, Israeli warplanes struck an air base in Homs.
Seven Iranian military advisors were among those killed in the unprovoked airstrike.
