Statement by

H.E. Mr. Amir Saeid Iravani

Ambassador and Permanent Representative

of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations

Before the United Nations Security Council

On “The situation in the Middle East: (Syria – Chemical)”

New York, 5 December 2022

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful.

Mr. President,

I congratulate India on assuming the presidency of the Council in December. I also congratulate Ghana for successfully finishing its presidency in November.

Iran's position on chemical weapons is clear. The use of chemical weapons is a flagrant violation of international law, and Iran, as the main victim of such weapons of mass destruction, strongly condemns their use by anyone, anywhere, and under any circumstances.

On the Syrian file, Iran supports the resolution of the open issues in its own technical track in the OPCW through dialogue and constructive cooperation between Syria and the OPCW.

To achieve this end, any investigation must be impartial, professional, credible, and objective, and must fully comply with the Convention's requirements and procedures.

Of equal importance, the Chemical Weapons Convention must be implemented fully, effectively, and without discrimination. Therefore, politicizing the Convention's application and exploiting the OPCW for political reasons only endangers the Organization's and the Convention's credibility.

Mr. President,

We commend the Syrian Arab Republic for its positive engagement with the OPCW and believe that such an engagement merits recognition.

 Syria regularly submitted its monthly reports to the OPCW Director-General, the most recent of which was on 15 November 2022 and included a thorough account of the country's efforts to destroy chemical weapons and their manufacturing facilities.

Syria also made it possible for the Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) to visit between November 6 and 12, and it fully supported the FFM in completing its mission. Syria also consented to an additional six-month extension of the tripartite agreement between Syria, the OPCW, and The United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS). Written correspondence was utilized to reach an understanding.

While promoting dialogue and engagement between the parties, we consider it essential to address the Syrian Government's legitimate concerns in this respect, such as its position on the illegality of the establishment of the "Investigation and Identification Team (IIT)." According to Syria, the CWC did not mandate the OPCW's Technical Secretariat to conduct investigations into the use of chemical weapons, and so this team (IIT) was given an unlawful mandate. This implies a flaw in the CWC's implementation and a disregard for its provisions only to outrage a state party to it.

Mr. President,

We hope that the high-level meeting between the Director-General of the OPCW and the Foreign Minister of Syria occurs and paves the path for the parties to settle the unresolved concerns.

Again, we agree that recurring meetings on this file are costly in terms of both UN resources and security council members' time.

Furthermore, while the Syrian Arab Republic has complied with the Convention's requirements and has been working cooperatively with the OPCW, addressing this case in a political or unfair way will only serve to detract from the technical character of the discussions.

I thank you