US Says 'Threat Of Force Is Real', US Secretary of State John Kerry has issued a warning to Syria, saying "the threat of force is real" if it does not destroy its chemical weapons.
Speaking at a joint news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem, he said the focus must now be on ending the violence and humanitarian crisis in Syria.
But he again warned that US military strikes were a possibility if President Bashar al Assad does not comply with a newly-brokered US and Russian deal to strip him of his chemical stockpiles.
"The threat of force remains, the threat is real," he said. "We cannot have hollow words in the conduct of international affairs."
Under the deal, Syria has seven days to give the UN details on the amount and locations of its chemical arsenal, he said.
Mr Netanyahu said diplomacy could only work if it was coupled with the credible threat of force. Syria needs to be stripped of its chemical weapons, he said. "That would make our entire region a lot safer."
He added: "The world needs to ensure that radical regimes don't have weapons of mass destruction because as we have learned in Syria, if rogue regimes have weapons of mass destruction they will use them.
"The determination the international community shows regarding Syria will have a direct impact on the Syrian regime's patron Iran. Iran must understand the consequences of its continued defiance of the international community by its pursuit toward nuclear weapons."
The Syrian government has welcomed the agreement on its chemical weapons disarmament as "a victory" for Damascus.
"On one hand, it helps the Syrians emerge from the crisis and on the other it has allowed for averting war against Syria," Syrian minister of state for national reconciliation Ali Haidar said in an interview with Russian news agency Ria Novosti. "It's a victory for Syria that was achieved thanks to our Russian friends."
Mr Haidar gave Syria's first reaction to the disarmament plan as warplanes and artillery bombarded rebel-held areas of Damascus. He said the deal would prepare the ground for peace talks between President Assad's forces and the rebels.
But opposition leaders have called the international focus on poison gas a sideshow, and dismissed talk the plan might herald peace talks. They said Mr Assad had stepped up an offensive with ordinary weaponry now the threat of US air strikes had receded.
Earlier, US President Barack Obama welcomed the nine-month disarmament plan, calling it an "important, concrete step", but also warned that "if diplomacy fails, the United States remains prepared to act".
Once the details of its chemical weapons have been handed over, the Assad regime will then have until November to allow UN inspectors access to the sites.
Destruction of the regime's chemical weapons must then be complete by mid-2014.
Speaking at a joint news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem, he said the focus must now be on ending the violence and humanitarian crisis in Syria.
But he again warned that US military strikes were a possibility if President Bashar al Assad does not comply with a newly-brokered US and Russian deal to strip him of his chemical stockpiles.
"The threat of force remains, the threat is real," he said. "We cannot have hollow words in the conduct of international affairs."
Under the deal, Syria has seven days to give the UN details on the amount and locations of its chemical arsenal, he said.
Mr Netanyahu said diplomacy could only work if it was coupled with the credible threat of force. Syria needs to be stripped of its chemical weapons, he said. "That would make our entire region a lot safer."
He added: "The world needs to ensure that radical regimes don't have weapons of mass destruction because as we have learned in Syria, if rogue regimes have weapons of mass destruction they will use them.
"The determination the international community shows regarding Syria will have a direct impact on the Syrian regime's patron Iran. Iran must understand the consequences of its continued defiance of the international community by its pursuit toward nuclear weapons."
The Syrian government has welcomed the agreement on its chemical weapons disarmament as "a victory" for Damascus.
"On one hand, it helps the Syrians emerge from the crisis and on the other it has allowed for averting war against Syria," Syrian minister of state for national reconciliation Ali Haidar said in an interview with Russian news agency Ria Novosti. "It's a victory for Syria that was achieved thanks to our Russian friends."
Mr Haidar gave Syria's first reaction to the disarmament plan as warplanes and artillery bombarded rebel-held areas of Damascus. He said the deal would prepare the ground for peace talks between President Assad's forces and the rebels.
But opposition leaders have called the international focus on poison gas a sideshow, and dismissed talk the plan might herald peace talks. They said Mr Assad had stepped up an offensive with ordinary weaponry now the threat of US air strikes had receded.
Earlier, US President Barack Obama welcomed the nine-month disarmament plan, calling it an "important, concrete step", but also warned that "if diplomacy fails, the United States remains prepared to act".
Once the details of its chemical weapons have been handed over, the Assad regime will then have until November to allow UN inspectors access to the sites.
Destruction of the regime's chemical weapons must then be complete by mid-2014.
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