Tehran, February 25: The head of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has lauded Iran’s commitment to assist the body with its objective to eradicate chemical weapons.
“The Islamic Republic has made valuable contributions to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons to help the body attain its objectives,” OPCW Director General Ahmet Uzumcu said in a meeting with the Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi in Tehran on Thursday.
Uzumcu called Iran an active and important country in helping reach the goals of Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) and further expressed his satisfaction with Iran’s openness to inspections of its chemical industries.
He went on to say that Iran itself is a country which has suffered chemical weapons attacks during the Iraq imposed war of 1980-88, and further asked Tehran to extend training programs and medical treatment for victims of chemical warfare.
The Iranian foreign minister, for his part, rebuked some of the signatories to the convention for not living up to their obligations, saying an unbiased approach is needed towards the implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention.
The CWC prohibits the development, production, acquisition, stockpiling, retention, transfer or use of chemical weapons by state parties.
In the meeting, Salehi stated that the OPCW should refrain from discrimination and double standards since it is among most important and necessary factors in the organization’s success.
Salehi noted that Tehran is a committed member of international organizations and conventions and that the Islamic Republic, which is a victim of chemical weapons, has always been an active member of Chemical Weapons Convention.
——–Agencies