Assad: "Accusations of Syria's use of chemical weapons could be used as a pretext to intervention."

In an exclusive interview for the Argentinian newspaper Clarín, shared with the Observer, Bashar al-Assad says he welcomes attempts at dialogue, but believes that western states are looking for ways to fuel the violence, rather than stop it, and are seeking to topple his regime regardless of the toll.

"We do not have fighters from outside Syria," he said. "There are people here from Hezbollah and Iran, but they have been coming and going in Syria since long before the crisis." He again denied his regime had used chemical weapons, a claim regularly made by rebel groups and partly supported by western officials. He suggested that the use of such weapons could be used as a pretext to directly intervene in the crisis.

"It is probable that the issue would be used," he said. "The west lies and falsifies evidence to engineer wars, it is a habit of theirs. Of course, any war against Syria would not be easy, it wouldn't be a simple excursion.

"[Intervention] is a clear probability, especially after we've managed to beat back armed groups in many areas of Syria. Then these countries sent Israel to do this to raise the morale of the terrorist groups. We expect that an intervention will occur at some point, although it may be limited in nature."

He also rejected claims that his troops had used excessive force. "How does one define excessive force? How can one decide whether excessive force has been used or not? What is the formula to be applied?

The debate is not about the extent of the force used or the type of weapon … the issue really centres on the nature and extent of the terrorism we have suffered, and thus, what is a proper response."