The international community should take a strong stance against the United States and Israel as they have routinely impeded efforts aimed at creating a zone free of weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East, says Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.
"The two aggressor and notorious regimes in the US and Israel, which oppose and impede the creation of a WMD-free zone in the Middle East, shoulder the global responsibility for the specter of these anti-human weapons looming large over this volatile region, and must be taken to task and condemned by the international community," he said in a statement released by the ministry on Thursday.
The statement was issued on the occasion of the 31st anniversary of a chemical attack on the northwestern Iranian city of Sardasht during the 1980-88 war imposed on Iran by former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. Of the 12,000 residents of the city, 8,000 were exposed and over 100 died.
Zarif criticized the US for reneging on its commitments under the Chemical Weapons Convention, urging it to fully dismantle its own chemical weapons arsenal.
Israel's Arsenal
"Meanwhile, the dismantling of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons of the Zionist regime, as the biggest threat to regional and global security, should be guaranteed through coordinated pressure from the international community," the statement said.
The minister said it is regrettable that the world is witnessing a repeat of past mistakes by big powers and the equipping of terrorist groups such as the self-styled Islamic State terrorist group with poison gas and chemical weapons.
"Iran condemns the double standards, the distinctions typically made by certain western governments between their own citizens and others, the politicization of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), and some countries' abusing technical issues at the OPCW."
He emphasized that his ministry will continue pursuing the restoration of the rights of those suffering from disability caused by chemical attacks through international legal channels.
Opposition to New OPCW Power
In a separate development, Iran's ambassador to the OPCW, Alireza Jahangiri, said the future of the world's chemical weapons watchdog is in jeopardy after member states voted—over objections by Iran—to empower it to assign blame for attacks with banned toxic munitions.
In a special session on Wednesday, OPCW member states voted in favor of a British-led proposal by a 82-24 margin, affirming the agency should go beyond determining whether a banned weapon had been used, Reuters reported.
The motion was supported by the United States and the European Union, but opposed by Russia, Iran, Syria and their allies. In remarks carried by ISNA on Friday, Jahangiri said the move will contribute to the politicization of the organization, distract it from its main mandate and undermine cooperation between member states.
