Jamal Lima, a spokesman for the group, said in a brief telephone interview, “The United States is continuing its regime change policy of overthrowing the legitimate, democratic government in Syria, which is directly in conflict with its regional interests.

“I believe that the US is using the UN as a tool to topple Syrian government and make it more vulnerable to US and Zionist interests, and to create more chaos and conflict in the region.” The White House on Tuesday said the decision by the Security Council to refer Assad to the International Criminal Court for alleged crimes against humanity would not prevent it from assisting the Syrian opposition. But if it would, which it does not, the United States would find that it could no longer “assist the opposition and its associated forces with the provision of military assistance and security,” the White House’s statement said. “We see this as part of a very long-term strategy to overthrow the government which has been in place since 2011”.

“The new UN resolution condemns acts of violence carried out by chemical weapons attacks, and the Syrian regime must come to the negotiating table to find a political solution in Syria that endangers its own people.” The Syrian opposition said the move was illegal and amounted to an affront to international law, but the United States backed down, at least temporarily, with an opposition spokesman claiming the US would vote with France and Russia in a final Security Council vote later on Wednesday.

Tensions have been rising between the Syrian opposition and government for months as regime troops and allied militia, backed by Iranian Revolutionary Guard troops and Russian air strikes, have carried out air strikes on civilian areas of Aleppo, including several cities near the Turkish border.

Lima said the new resolution was an attempt to delay the end of the two-year-old Syrian conflict.

“We are fighting terrorism,” he said. “We have never used chemical weapons. We’re not fighting the Islamic State (IS). We’re fighting the Assad regime’s gangs, which are backed by Israel, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Turkey, and Turkey. We’ve never attacked civilians. We never attacked a hospital.”