( CNN ) -- Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has suggested that some outside governments may urge rebels to attack international inspectors sent into war-fractured country to secure its arsenal of chemical weapons . `` There might be countries that might ask the terrorists to attack the inspectors to prevent them from doing their job , and blame the Syrian government , '' he said in an interview aired Sunday by Chinese state broadcaster CCTV . `` At this point , this remains just a possibility and we can not know until the inspectors arrive in Syria , '' al-Assad said . Syria submitted an initial declaration to the world 's chemical weapons watchdog last week outlining its inventory of the munitions . The move was part of a deal forged earlier this month by the United States and Russia to begin Syria 's chemical disarmament . Photos : The omnipresence of Bashar al-Assad in Syria . The plan faces several potential roadblocks . For starters , there is disagreement between Washington and Moscow about how to determine whether Syria is failing to meet its disarmament obligations , according to two sources with knowledge of talks at the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons . The United States wants the OPCW 's executive council to decide if Syria is in breach -- in which case a two-thirds majority of member states can make a decision , one source said . The Russians , however , want the determination to be made by the the U.N. Security Council -- where Russia has veto power . Syria has agreed to a Russian-U.S. timeline for the removal of its chemical weapons , but the plan has to be sanctioned as a U.N. resolution . Diplomats have said the Security Council ca n't pass a resolution without the OPCW first agreeing on how it would be implemented . The plan calls for international inspectors in position to secure that arsenal no later than November . Veteran weapons inspectors have said securing and destroying the Syrian stockpile could take huge numbers of people , including hundreds of inspectors and thousands of troops to provide security . Al-Assad noted that the plan requires his government to ensure the safety of the inspectors . He said the weapons stockpile is secure , despite the civil war raging in Syria . `` Chemical weapons are safely stored to prevent terrorists or groups from other countries from taking them over , '' al-Assad told CCTV . One woman 's story : In Syria , inmates suffer the most . 'Large quantities ' Asked if it was true that there are more than 1,000 tons of chemical weapons in Syria , he said , `` Syria has been producing these weapons for decades , and it is quite natural that there are large quantities of them . `` We are in a state of war , and we have territories that have been occupied for over 40 years , '' he continued . `` But at any event , the Syrian army was geared toward fighting with conventional weapons . '' The United States and other Western nations blame al-Assad 's regime for an August 21 chemical weapons attack outside Damascus that U.S. officials estimate killed 1,400 people . Russia and Syria say they think rebels used the weapons . Citing international norms against the use of chemical weapons , U.S. President Barack Obama called for authorization from Congress to use military force in Syria . As the United States threatened force to degrade Assad 's ability to carry out chemical weapons attacks , a diplomatic opportunity arose between Russia and the United States to put Syria 's stockpile under international control . U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said he and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov hammered out the deal in Geneva , and Syria agreed to it . Syrian chemical weapons list more complete than anticipated . CNN 's Nick Paton Walsh , Ali Younes and Brian Walker contributed to this report .
NEW : Sources : U.S. , Russia disagree over how to determine if Syria is meeting its obligations . Some countries will allow rebels to attack international targets , al - Hassan says . ` ` We can not know until the inspectors arrive in Syria , '' he tells Syria 's CCTV . The U.S.-Russian plan for Syria 's chemical disarmament calls for inspections soon .