OPCW Reinstates Syria's Rights Under Chemical Weapons Convention

THE HAGUE, July 9. /TASS/. The Executive Council of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has ruled to reinstate Syria’s rights and privileges under the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) that were suspended in 2021, the organization said in a statement.

The decision was co-sponsored by 67 CWC signatories and adopted by consensus.

Syria’s new government "committed to fulfilling Syria’s obligations under the Convention and have since taken concrete steps to cooperate with the Technical Secretariat to achieve this goal," the OPCW said.

The Executive Council also welcomed Damascus’ progress in resolving the remaining issues related to Syria’s "chemical dossier."

The statement says that since February 2025, inspectors of the OPCW Technical Secretariat have visited Syria on numerous occasions to inspect sites, collect samples, interview witnesses and collect documents. The Executive Council also approved a plan for the verification of the destruction of chemical agents at Al Qutayfah, and two separate facility agreements for the systematic verification of the Al Qutayfah and Homs chemical weapons storage sites.

The crisis that emerged over the use of chemical weapons in Syria in 2012 was resolved thanks to Russia’s intervention, which put forward a disposal plan for Syria’s chemical weapons and obtained the government’s permission to put its chemical stockpiles under international control. On September 27, 2013, the plan was approved by UN Security Council Resolution 2118.

The CWC came into force for Syria on October 14, 2013. Within 30 days after that date, Syria submitted an initial declaration regarding its chemical program, but the OPCW described the document as incomplete. Therefore, the organization created a special task force to fill in the blanks and fix inconsistencies in the initial declaration.