Syria unveils plan to rid country of Assad’s chemical weapons stockpile
Syria has unveiled a plan to eliminate Assad’s chemical weapons with international support. The operation will inspect 100 sites to track and destroy remaining toxic munitions.
Syria on Wednesday launched a plan supported by Washington to rid the Middle Eastern country of legacy chemical weapons that were used against its people by forces under the ousted leader, Bashar al-Assad.
For decades, Assad ran a large-scale program for chemical weapons, the use of which killed and injured thousands during Syria’s long-running civil war.
Despite Damascus’ signing onto the Chemical Weapons Convention in 2013 and declaring a 1,300-ton stockpile, prohibited use continued, and the size of the program remains unclear.
An international task force backed by the United States, Germany, Britain, Canada, and France, among others, will track down all remaining elements of the program and destroy them under the supervision of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, Syria’s ambassador to the United Nations, Ibrahim Olabi, said in an interview.
As many as 100 sites in Syria need to be inspected to determine what toxic munitions remain and how they should be destroyed, OPCW experts have said.
It will require a time-consuming and costly operation to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction in a region fraught with conflict and political turmoil. The expanding US-Israeli war on Iran and broader regional security concerns will make the timing of the mission uncertain, but all the more necessary to prevent future use, officials said.
Al-Sharaa government vows full access
Assad was overthrown in December 2024, and the new government under Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa has vowed to turn a page, eradicate banned chemical weapons, and give inspectors full access.
The move shows that Syria has shifted from a country that was once concealing chemical weapons use to one that is “leading the resolve” to do away with them, Olabi said.
Several international investigations concluded that the nerve agent sarin, as well as chlorine and sulfur mustard gas, were used by the Assad regime, but never revealed the full extent of the clandestine program.