Syria Reinstated by Chemical Weapons Watchdog After Assad's Fall

The world's chemical weapons watchdog reinstated Syria on Thursday, noting a "significant change in circumstances" since the fall of Bashar al-Assad and "concrete steps" to dismantle his deadly stockpile of banned substances.

In 2021, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) took the unprecedented step of stripping Syria of its voting rights after finding its air force had used nerve agent sarin and chlorine gas on its own people.

But since al-Assad's 2024 overthrow, the new authorities in Damascus have vowed to co-operate with the OPCW to destroy the chemical weapons the former president was repeatedly accused of using during Syria's 13-year civil war.

The new Syrian government has "committed to fulfilling Syria's obligation under the (Chemical Weapons) Convention and...since taken concrete steps to cooperate...to achieve this goal," the OPCW said in a statement.

The decision "marks another milestone in the OPCW's efforts to achieve the complete and verified elimination of all remaining chemical weapons associated with the former Syrian government," said the watchdog's Director-General Fernando Arias.

Syria's foreign ministry on Thursday welcomed the decision, saying it "reflects the international community's confidence in the transformation that Syria has undergone and in the efforts of its institutions to fulfill their commitments."

It stated Syria's "commitment to continuing full and transparent cooperation" with the OPCW and thanked the countries that supported the decision to reinstate it, particularly Qatar, "for its diplomatic efforts, which contributed to achieving consensus."

In 2013, Syria agreed to join the OPCW and disclose and hand over its toxic stockpile under Russian and US pressure and to avert the threat of air strikes by Washington and its allies.

This came after a suspected chemical attack on the Eastern Ghouta suburb of Damascus that killed more than 1,000 people, according to US intelligence and was attributed to the Syrian government, which denied involvement and blamed rebels.

But the al-Assad regime failed to declare all of its programme and attempted to mislead inspectors.

The post-Assad government has allowed OPCW inspectors to establish a permanent presence in the country to document suspected chemical weapons sites and interview witnesses to past attacks.

Arias has visited Syria and Syrian officials have addressed the OPCW at its headquarters in The Hague.

The OPCW in its statement welcomed the "tangible progress" made and urged Damascus to continue cooperating "towards closing the chemical weapons dossier inherited from the former regime."