Transfer of Syrian Chemical Weapons to US Vessel Completed: Pentagon
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The United States Department of Defense Pentagon said in a statement that the transfer of Syrian chemical weapons from a Danish container ship to a US vessel was completed on Wednesday in the Italian port of Gioia Tauro.
"The transfer of Syrian chemicals from the Danish container ship Ark Futura to the Motor Vessel Cape Ray is complete," said Pentagon press secretary Rear Admiral John Kirby on Wednesday.
Cape Ray will sail out to international waters and destroy nearly half the total load of 1,300 metric tons.The chemical agents will be then destroyed.
It will take 60 days to neutralize the chemicals safely and cleanly, the Pentagon said.
The rest of the mustard gas and methylphosphonyl difluoride, a chemical used to make nerve agents sarin and soman, will be destroyed at plants in the United States and Europe.
The resulting hazardous waste will be further processed in Germany and Finland.
The disposal process marks the culmination of a program to rid Syria of its chemical weapons stockpile.
Syria shipped out its stockpile of chemical weapons under the terms of a UN-backed and US-Russia brokered agreement last year.
