A senior official warned that chemical arsenals pose a threat to global peace and security. “There is no doubt that the remaining chemical arsenals belonging to both states parties and non-parties can endanger global peace and security,” director general for political and international security affairs at Iran’s Foreign Ministry said. Gholamhossein Dehqani made the statement in an address to the 22nd session of the Conference of the States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention at The Hague, the Netherlands, on Friday, Press TV reported. “The terrorist groups’ use of chemical weapons in Syria and Iraq was the obvious consequence of direct or indirect support provided to them by certain countries,” he said. The Iranian diplomat called on the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons to oblige non-parties, particularly the Israeli regime, to join the Chemical Weapons Convention. He emphasized that the Israeli regime possesses weapons of mass destruction, but is not a signatory to any international treaty in this regard. Dehqani also urged the United States, which has the largest stockpile of chemical weapons, to adopt measures to destroy its chemical arsenals as soon as possible.
