TEHRAN - Iran’s permanent ambassador to the United Nations Amir Saeed Iravani says the Islamic Republic, as the main victim of chemical weapons, denounces the use of such weapons altogether as it is a serious violation of international law and a crime against humanity.
Iravani, Iran’s permanent ambassador to the United Nations Amir Saeed Iravani, made the remarks while addressing a UN Security Council meeting in New York.
He added that the use of chemical weapons constitutes a threat to international peace and security.
Pointing to the systematic use of chemical weapons against the Iranian people by former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein during the imposed war against Iran, he said Iranian people will never forget the role of certain Western countries in helping Saddam’s regime to such weapons against the Iranian people.
“Because of their West harmful actions and double standards, the UN Security Council was unable to carry out its based charter duties to take effective action to hold perpetrators accountable for such atrocious crimes,” Iravani said.
It is disturbing that the West continues to use double standards and detrimental practices, as evidenced by the politicization of the Chemical Weapons Convention and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) for short-sighted political gain, he said.
The Iranian diplomat added, “Such an approach not only risks creating divisions among member states but also undermines the credibility and legitimacy of the disarmament machinery.”
Elsewhere in his speech, Iravani reaffirmed Syria’s commitment to its obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention and continuation of the Arab country’s constructive cooperation with OPCW.
He noted that Syria has outlined its activities related to the destruction of chemical weapons and their production facilities in its 112th and 113th monthly reports submitted to the OPCW director-general.
Iravani said that Syria has repeatedly expressed its concern about the “grave threat” of the use of chemical weapons by terrorist organizations, emphasizing, “Such a threat should not be ignored or undervalued and requires condemnation as well as an immediate action to prevent these weapons out of the terrorists’ hands.”
He added that Iran supports constructive dialogue between Syria and the OPCW at the highest level within a specific time frame in an attempt to resolve outstanding issues and finally close the file.
“However, any investigation must be impartial, professional, credible, and objective, and must fully comply with the Convention’s requirements and procedures,” he pointed out.
He urged the OPCW to remain a neutral and objective international body, guided solely by scientific and technical considerations, in its efforts to prevent the use of chemical weapons and promote the goals of the Convention.
The Iranian envoy called on all member states to uphold the principles of the Convention and work together to ensure the “impartiality, professionalism, and integrity” of the OPCW.
He warned of convening unconstructive monthly meetings on the Syrian chemical file, despite no new developments, saying, “The political approach and using double standards in this file can only jeopardize the process of addressing unresolved issues and will only serve to detract from the technical nature of the discussions at hand.”
On April 14, 2018, the U.S., Britain, and France carried out a string of airstrikes against Syria over a suspected chemical weapons attack on the city of Douma, located about 10 kilometers northeast of the capital Damascus. Washington and its allies blamed Damascus for the Douma attack, a charge the Syrian government has rejected.