Iran asks for identifying, punishing users of chemical weapons in Syria

IRI Deputy FM in International and Legal Affairs Mohammad-Mahdi Akhoundzadeh said in Hague Wednesday delay in dispatching UN fact finding inspectors to Syria is sending negative signal to international society.

According to IRNA, Akhoundzadeh made the comment in a meeting with the Secretary General of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) Ahmet Uzumcu on the sidelines of the 3rd UN Conference to Revise Implementing of the Protocol on the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.

He added, 'Dispatching of this fact finding team must take place immediately so that those who have committed this inhumane crime against the Syrian nation despite the entire international and legal norms would be identified and properly published along with the countries that have helped them in doing so.'

The Iranian deputy foreign minister meanwhile in the meeting referred to the world powers' lack of commitment in full annihilation of their chemical weapons' stockpiles, including the United States, up to the formerly internationally agreed deadline, April 29th, 2012.
Akhoundzadeh asked the Secretary General of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) Ahmet Uzumcu to include the serious concern of the international community regarding the violator countries in full annihilation of the chemical weapons in the final document of the 3rd UN Conference to Revise Implementing of the Protocol on the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in a proper manner.

He said that the issue of international cooperation regarding exchange and trade of chemical substances and technical facilities and lifting of any legal and executive obstacles among the member countries of the Chemical Weapons Disarmament Convention as a demand of the member countries that needs to be dealt with during the course of 3rd Conference.