UN must find main culprit behind chemical arms use in Syria: Iran

Iran Press TV

Tue Apr 30, 2013 3:32PM GMT

Iran has called on the United Nations to identify the main culprit behind the use of chemical weapons in Syria before the situation in the Arab state gets out of control.

“According to the Syrian government, militants have used chemical weapons and the United Nations should identify the main culprit before the condition gets out of hand,” said Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi on Tuesday.

This comes while US, Israeli and Britain claim that there is evidence of the Syrian government using chemical weapons in its fight against the foreign-backed militants. However, Syria has dismissed the allegations as false and fabricated.

On April 27, Syrian Information Minister Omran al-Zohbi described the claims as a “barefaced lie,” stressing that Damascus will never use chemical arms “not only because of its adherence to the international law and rules of leading war, but because of humanitarian and moral issues.”

Salehi further reaffirmed the Islamic Republic’s opposition to the use of chemical arms and weapons of mass destruction (WMD) by any country.

“We are opposed to any production, stockpiling and use of the weapons of mass destruction, and this stance is the clear message and basic policy of Iran,” the Iranian diplomat said.

The Syrian government had earlier called on the UN to launch an investigation into the issue and condemned foreign-sponsored militants for using such weapons in an effort to prevent the perpetration of more crimes in the crisis-hit country, Salehi added.

On March 19, some 25 people were killed and many others injured when militants fired missiles “containing a chemical substance” into a village near the Syrian city of Aleppo, according to a report by the official Syrian news agency, SANA.

MKA/PR/SS