Syrian President Bashar al-Assad waving to an admiring crowd. Photo: Syrianpresidency Instagram account.

JNS.org – Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was quoted in the Lebanese newspaper Al Akhbar as saying that he could “shut Israel up” with or without chemical weapons.

Assad—whose country has seen more than 100,000 deaths in the Syrian civil war, including more than 1,400 in what the U.S. said was a chemical attack on civilians—also expressed frustration over not being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his agreement on the removal of his chemical weapons stockpile. Instead, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons won the prize for its efforts to remove chemical weapons around the world.

Assad spoke to guests at his presidential palace and called the development of chemical weapons in 1997 his country’s greatest achievement, because it strengthened Syria’s position in the Middle East.