Iran "favourably welcomes" a Russian plan to head off threatened US strikes on Syria by securing a deal to destroy the regime’s chemical weapons, the foreign ministry spokeswoman said Tuesday.

Iran "favourably welcomes" a Russian plan to head off threatened US strikes on Syria by securing a deal to destroy the regime's chemical weapons, the foreign ministry spokeswoman said Tuesday.

Marzieh Afgham told a media conference in Tehran that the proposal should include the destruction of chemical weapons in the hands of militant groups in Syria.

"The Islamic republic of Iran favourably welcomes the (Russian) initiative which aims at halting all military action" against Syria, Afgham said.

"We want our region to be cleared of all mass destruction weapons. These efforts should also target the chemical weapons in the hands of Syria's militant groups," she added.

Iran has repeatedly warned that any US-led strikes against the Damascus regime could ignite widespread conflagration.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Monday urged Damascus to "place chemical weapons under international control and then to have them destroyed."

Speaking in Moscow, Syria's Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem welcomed the Russian move.

US President Barack Obama reacted by saying the Russian plan could be a "significant breakthrough."