Syrian Ambassador to the United Nations Bashar al-Jaafari denied on Monday that Syria was involved in a suspected chemical weapon attack in Douma, near Damascus, over the weekend.
Jaafari told the U.N. Security Council that the Syrian government does not possess any chemical weapons, and condemned their use.
Jaafari blamed Israel for an attack by unidentified warplanes on a Syrian air base near Homs on Monday that killed at least 14 people, including Iranian personnel.
"The government of the Syrian Arab Republic condemns in the strongest terms the ruthless Israeli aggression that took place this morning on the airport in Homs governorate, killing and injuring a number of civilians," Jaafari said.
"This aggression would not have occurred were it not for the unlimited and consistent support by the American administration to Israel."
The suspected chemical weapon attack late on Saturday killed at least 60 people and injured more than 1,000 in several sites in Douma, according to a Syrian aid organization.
Two days later, the White House was able to say only that the attack fits the pattern of Syrian President Bashar Assad's chemical weapon use.
Speaking to reporters after the Security Council meeting, Russian U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said the evidence does not support the allegations of a chemical attack.
"There were no dead bodies found. There were no poisoned people in the hospitals. The doctors in Douma denied that there were people who came to the hospital claiming that they were under chemical attack," Nebenzia said.
U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley told the council the U.S. would respond to the alleged chemical attack against Syrian civilians, and criticized Russia, saying its hands are "covered in the blood of Syrian children."
"Chemical weapons have once again been used on Syrian men, women and children. History will record this as the moment when the Security Council either discharged its duty or demonstrated its utter and complete failure to protect the people of Syria," Haley said. "Either way, the United States will respond."
International bodies led by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons were trying to establish what happened in Douma, a rebel-held town in the eastern Ghouta district.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday promised quick action in response to the "barbaric" chemical weapons attack in Syria and made it clear that all options, including military action, are on the table.
