Huckabee calls on Israel and the West to "destroy" Syria's chemical arsenal

Donald Trump's nominee to be the next US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, called on Benjamin Netanyahu's government and Western allies to act and "destroy" all chemical weapons in Syria's possession so that the new rulers or terrorist groups do not get their hands on them.

In an interview on NewsNation, Huckabee noted that if Israel - a country he applauds for "defending itself" from its enemies - does not accede to Syria to interdict this arsenal, "then the rest of the world should come in and do it."

"Very concerned. We all should be. And it’s another reason that we should thank Israel for going in and trying to destroy those chemical weapons, because I don’t care who’s in charge of Syria, nobody needs to have their hands near chemical weapons. They need to be destroyed, and if Israel doesn’t do it, then the rest of the world should come in and do it as well," the incoming US ambassador to Israel said.

Regarding the position of the president-elect and his cabinet, Huckabee said, "We certainly have a critical national interest, but what we don’t have is a reason to get in the middle of two warring factions, neither of which are good guys."

Iran blames US and Israel for the fall of Assad

The remarks come shortly before Iran's supreme leader, Alli Khamenei, accused the United States and Israel of instigating jihadist rebel groups to overthrow Bashar Assad.

"What happened in Syria is the product of a joint US-Zionist plan. The main factor, the main plotter and planner, the main command center are in the United States and the Zionist regime," Khamenei said in a speech.

The Iranian supreme leader claimed that he alerted Assad about threats by opponents of the Syrian regime, in addition to hinting that there is a neighboring country of Syria that has also acted against Damascus.