Reports indicate that foreign-backed terrorist groups in Syria possess chemical weapons and have used them, a senior Iranian official says.
“Existing reports and documents indicate that terrorist groups in Syria have obtained [chemical] weapons and have used them, [an issue] which causes serious concern,” Iran's Permanent Representative to the Executive Council of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) Kazem Gharibabadi said.

In an interview with the Japanese paper, Mainichi, Gharibabadi said Iran is against the use of weapons of mass destruction including chemical ones.

In September Defense Minister Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan, revealed Iran had given the US information about the import of a chemical nerve agent to Syria by militants in the beginning of 2013

The Iranian envoy lauded the Syrian government’s “positive cooperation” on destroying its arsenal of chemical weapons and said the international community is duty-bound to help Syria on this issue.

On September 14, Russia and the United States agreed on a deal according to which Syria would have its chemical weapons eliminated and the US would in return not carry out planned strikes on the Arab country.

The war rhetoric against Syria intensified after foreign-backed opposition forces accused the government of President Bashar al-Assad of having launched a chemical attack on militant strongholds in the suburbs of Damascus on August 21.

Damascus vehemently denied the accusations, saying the attack was carried out by the militants themselves as a false-flag operation.

Syria has been gripped by deadly unrest since 2011. According to reports, the Western powers and their regional allies - namely Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey - are supporting militants operating inside Syria.

More than 100,000 people have been killed since the beginning of the conflict in Syria in March 2011.

By Press TV

 

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