Syria's stockpile of chemical agents is largely "unweaponized" and could be eradicated more quickly than initially thought, the Washington Post reported Thursday citing a confidential U.S. and Russian assessment.

The report said American and Russian officials now believe Syria's entire arsenal could be dismantled within a nine-month timeframe, and that the unweaponized state of the chemicals made it less likely they could be hidden or seized by terrorist organizations.

The major powers inched toward a U.N. Security Council resolution to back the destruction of Syria's chemical weapons on Wednesday as U.N. experts resumed the hunt for evidence of poison gas attacks.

Russia and the United States are negotiating a Security Council resolution to legally enforce the disarmament plan that they agreed to head off a U.S. military strike.

U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon David Hale highlighted on Wednesday the additional U.S. assistance to Lebanon for both the humanitarian and security challenges that Lebanon faces that was announced by President Barack Obama on Tuesday.

He said after holding talks with caretaker Information Minister Walid al-Daouq: “This aid helps the Lebanese army fulfill its mandate as Lebanon’s sole legitimate defense force and implement outstanding U.N. Security Council resolutions, such as 1701 and 1559.”

The March 14 General Secretariat hailed on Tuesday the security forces' deployment in Beirut's southern suburbs of Dahieh on Monday.

It said after its weekly meeting: “The security plan in Dahieh should act as a precursor to the state implementing its right to take control of all arms throughout Lebanon.”

Caretaker Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour called on the international community to assume its humanitarian and moral responsibilities to help Lebanon confront the burdens caused by the soaring number of Syrian refugees fleeing the conflict in neighboring Syria.

“The meeting of the International Group to Support Lebanon will enable the countries to cover Lebanon's needs and support its capabilities,” Mansour said in an interview with As Safir newspaper on Tuesday.

President Hassan Rowhani demanded Sunday that Western governments recognize Iran's right to enrich uranium in any nuclear deal, ahead of his departure for key talks at the United Nations.

Rowhani, a moderate on Iran's political scene whose election in June had raised Western hopes of a breakthrough in long-stumbling nuclear talks, said a deal to allay Western suspicions was dependent on acceptance of Iran's enrichment program.

Syria's opposition National Coalition said Friday it was "deeply skeptical" about the government's decision to join a chemical weapons ban and urged a tough U.N. resolution to enforce the measure.

Its statement came a day after Damascus filed documents at the United Nations seeking to join the international convention banning chemical weapons.

France on Wednesday joined the United States in putting threatened military action against Syria on hold as the world waited for Bashar Assad's regime to act on its pledge to give up its chemical weapons.

President Barack Obama on Tuesday asked U.S. lawmakers to delay a vote on whether to authorize strikes against Syria to allow Russian-led attempts to broker a handover of Syria's arsenal time to bear fruit.

Russia clashed once again with Western powers Tuesday as envoys drafted a U.N. resolution to add muscle to a plan to strip Syria of its chemical weapons.

U.S. President Barack Obama maintained his threat to launch military strikes against the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad, even while cranking up the diplomatic pressure on Moscow.

Britain would back any "credible" U.N. Security Council resolution on Syria's chemical weapons program, but it must contain the threat of force, Foreign Secretary William Hague said Tuesday.

"It certainly would need to be a chapter seven resolution to have any meaning and credibility on this subject," Hague said in Cape Town, referring to rules authorizing the Security Council to enforce a resolution with military action if necessary.