• National

    Caution Against Using OPCW for Political Gain

    Iran’s permanent representative to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons said the watchdog body should not be used for political gains.

    “OPCW as the competent authority in the field of chemical weapons should not be used as an instrument to confirm the political intentions of the states parties,” Alireza Jahangiri said on Thursday while addressing the 59th meeting of the executive council, IRNA reported.

     “This should not be a precedent in the future work of this organization. In cases such as the Salisbury incident in which there is an allegation of the use of chemical weapons against another state party,” Jahangiri said, member states should raise their arguments after the final report of the OPCW.

    Pointing to the Salisbury case, he said a number of allegations and accusations had been made before receiving the results of the findings of the OPCW team.  Britain and its allies have expelled Russian diplomats over a nerve agent attack in Salisbury. Sergei Skripal, a former Russian double agent who arrived in Britain in 2010 after a spy swap, and his daughter Yulia were the targets of the attack on March 4. Britain holds Russia responsible for the attack, but Moscow denies any