TEHRAN -- Iran said on Saturday that U.S. and Israeli attacks on its civilian infrastructure have delayed its ratification of the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol, but insisted it remains an active participant in international ozone protection efforts.
Hussein Shahbaz, head of Iran’s National Ozone Layer Protection Unit at the Department of Environment, made the remarks at the 38th Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol held in Kigali, Rwanda, from November 2 to 6. 
The meeting coincided with the tenth anniversary of the Kigali Amendment.
“In this statement, it was explained that the enemy’s attacks on civilian centers and the country’s infrastructure have delayed the process of ratifying the Kigali Amendment,” Shahbaz said, adding that “if these attacks stop, the ratification process will be pursued rapidly”.
Shahbaz described Iran as “among the active countries in the field of eliminating ozone-depleting substances and managing substances controlled by this protocol”. 
He said Iran has carried out effective measures in phasing out ozone-depleting substances and managing chemicals controlled under the Montreal Protocol and the Vienna Convention.
According to figures published by the United Nations Development Program, Iran has phased out approximately 10,000 tonnes of ozone-depleting substances and converted or equipped 1,377 
manufacturing units that worked with such substances to alternative technologies. 
Iran acceded to the Montreal Protocol on October 3, 1990, and established its National Ozone Unit within the Department of Environment in 1995.
The Kigali Amendment, adopted in 2016 and in force since January 1, 2019, commits countries to the gradual reduction of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), which, while not ozone-depleting, are potent greenhouse gases. 
The amendment is estimated to reduce global warming by approximately 0.4 to 0.5 degrees Celsius by 2100. Iran has not yet ratified the amendment, according to the UN Treaty Collection.
The Kigali meeting also addressed financing for the Multilateral Fund for the 2027-2029 period, institutional capacity building, HFC-23 emissions reporting, regional atmospheric monitoring, and compliance and reporting by parties.