The Obama administration is reportedly close to providing Syrian rebels with “lethal weaponry” in their fight against President Bashar al-Assad. The Washington Post reports Obama will make a final decision in the coming weeks on what one official described as “assistance that has a direct military purpose.” Syrian rebels have already asked Western backers for anti-tank weapons and surface-to-air missiles. At his White House news conference, Obama suggested confirmation of Syrian chemical weapons use could trigger U.S. intervention in some form but said he’s still awaiting more evidence.

President Obama: “What we now have is evidence that chemical weapons have been used inside of Syria, but we don’t know how they were used, when they were used, who used them. We don’t have a chain of custody that establishes what exactly happened. And when I am making decisions about America’s national security and the potential for taking additional action in response to chemical weapon use, I’ve got to make sure I’ve got the facts.”

Speaking at the United Nations, Syria’s U.N. Ambassador Bashar Jaafari repeated the Assad regime’s vow to not use chemical weapons “against its own people.”

Bashar Jaafari: “The Syrian government has always emphasized in Damascus, the capital, as well as in here, that it will not use — if it possesses — any chemical weapons against its own people. And I stress this point, which has been highly controversial and manipulated by the enemies of Syria to serve their hidden agendas.”