Statement by
H.E. Mr. Majid Takht Ravanchi
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, 6 May 2021
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful.
Mr. President,
I would like to begin by congratulating you for presiding over the Security Council this month.
Today, multilateralism faces numerous challenges. One of such challenges is the exploitation of the CWC as well as politicization of the OPCW and the abuse of its process, which unfortunately have seriously undermined the Convention; have resulted in deep legitimacy and credibility crisis for the OPCW; have sowed the seeds of division among its Member States; have challenged the longstanding consensual decision-making tradition in disarmament and non-proliferation fora; and have catalyzed the ongoing trust and confidence deficit of the multilateral disarmament machinery and disarmament and non-proliferation instruments, which have already started as a result of non-compliance of nuclear-weapon States with their obligations under Article VI of the NPT as well as two alarming and regressive trends, namely new nuclear arms race and new nuclear arms modernization race.
The recent politically motivated decision of the Conference of States Parties to the CWC on Syria is the result of years of insincere attempts of Western countries in advancing their narrow national interests regarding Syria, including through undermining the OPCW’s independence; providing it with false and fabricated information; disregarding its consensual decision-making tradition; creating the Investigation and Identification Team (IIT) inconsistent with the Convention and through a flawed procedure; as well as compelling the OPCW Fact Finding Mission (FFM) and the IIT to use unreliable open sources and invalid information, defective methodologies as well as improper and broken chain of custody in their activities. Such a process definitely leads to misjudgments and erroneous conclusions.
That one-sided and partial decision is based on such flawed conclusions and even totally fails to acknowledge the strategic decision of Syria to accede to the Convention as well as its unprecedented cooperation and efforts in fulfilling its relevant obligations, including by expeditiously presenting its initial declaration amidst the conflict in that country, destroying all its 27 chemical weapons production facilities -- which was confirmed by the Joint Mission to Eliminate Chemical Weapons in Syria and later by the OPCW itself --, submitting 89 monthly reports, holding 23 rounds of consultations with the OPCW’s Declaration Assessment Team (DAT), receiving numerous OPCW teams, and providing the Technical Secretariat with a large amount of information.
The intentional disregard of such levels of cooperation, parts of which carried out amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, is but a clear regression from the very basic norms of impartiality and professionalism, which will continue to further polarize the OPCW Member States and adversely impact the overall multilateral non-proliferation and disarmament architecture in the current turbulent international atmosphere.
We voted against that decision particularly as it is inconsistent with the provisions and object and purpose of the Convention, undermines the CWC’s authority and erodes the OPCW’s integrity and credibility.
As a major victim, in contemporary history, of the most systematic use of chemical weapons, Iran once again condemns, in the strongest possible terms, the use of chemical weapons by anyone, anywhere and under any circumstances.
While we are approaching the 25th anniversary of the CWC’s entry into force and the OPCW’s establishment, we call for enhanced efforts for the realization of the CWC’s universality, including through compelling the Israeli regime to accede thereto, and the materialization of the Convention’s main objective, namely the elimination of chemical weapons, which is yet to be realized due to blatant failure by the U.S. as the sole major Possessor State Party.
We once again call for the full, effective and non-discriminatory implementation of the CWC and upholding the authority of the OPCW, and stand ready to actively and constructively contribute to that end.
I thank you, Mr. President.