OPCW Chief Highlights Iran’s Role in Prohibiting Chemical Weapons

Arias held a meeting with Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for International and Legal Affairs Mohsen Baharvand on the sidelines of the 25th Session of the Conference of the States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention, in The Hague on Tuesday.

“Iran is an important partner in maintaining the international prohibition on chemical weapons. We must not allow the suffering inflicted by chemical weapons, in Iran or in other parts of the globe, to be forgotten or to occur again,” the director general said in the bilateral meeting.

“Concerted action by all States Parties to the Convention is crucial to fully eradicate the use, the threat of use, and the re-emergence of these heinous weapons,” Arias added.

He also briefed the Iranian deputy foreign minister on the OPCW’s progress in implementing the Chemical Weapons Convention, the organization’s activities in addressing challenges to achieving a world free of chemical weapons, and shared perspectives on the ways of strengthening cooperation between Iran and OPCW.

For his part, Baharvand said, “Universal membership of the OPCW, full and effective implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention, and the destruction of all types of chemical weapons are essential to achieving the goal of a world free of chemical weapons.”

“We shall make every effort to ensure that the horrible event which made the Islamic Republic of Iran the main victim of chemical weapons will not be repeated. It is unfortunate that the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic has had a further negative impact on the victims of chemical weapons,” the Iranian deputy minister added.

Iran has been an active member of the OPCW since the Chemical Weapons Convention entered into force in 1997. Iran is a member of the Executive Council, the OPCW’s executive organ, which is charged with promoting the effective implementation of and compliance with the Chemical Weapons Convention as well as supervising the activities of the organization’s Technical Secretariat, according to the OPCW website.

As the implementing body for the Chemical Weapons Convention, the OPCW, with its 193 Member States, oversees the global endeavor to permanently eliminate chemical weapons. Since the Convention’s entry into force in 1997, it is the most successful disarmament treaty eliminating an entire class of weapons of mass destruction.

Over 98% of all declared chemical weapon stockpiles have been destroyed under OPCW verification. For its extensive efforts in eliminating chemical weapons, the OPCW received the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize.