Iran Says US Claims About Tehran's Failure To Declare Chemical Weapons To OPCW Baseless

Iran Says US Claims About Tehran's Failure to Declare Chemical Weapons to OPCW Baseless

The claims made by the US mission to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) about Tehran's alleged failure to provide full information on the production and supplies of chemical weapons are absolutely groundless, Spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry Bahram Qassemi said on Friday

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 23rd November, 2018) The claims made by the US mission to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) about Tehran's alleged failure to provide full information on the production and supplies of chemical weapons are absolutely groundless, Spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry Bahram Qassemi said on Friday.

During his speech at an OPCW conference in the Netherlands on Thursday, US Permanent Representative to the organization Kenneth Ward accused Iran of maintaining its chemical weapons program and failing to declare it to the OPCW.

"During the Fourth Review Conference of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) in The Hague on Thursday, the US mission to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) once again levelled groundless accusations against the Islamic Republic [of Iran], which we strongly reject," Qassemi was quoted as saying on the ministry's official website.

The spokesman added that the Iranian side would prepare a response to the allegations, noting that the United States itself was the only country in the organization that still possessed chemical weapons.

"Based on the Conference procedure, the Iranian mission to the OPCW will give an appropriate response to these baseless accusations at the end of the general debates ... The crystal-clear point here is that the US is the only OPCW member state with chemical weapon arsenals, which has so far failed to fulfill its commitment to destroy them," the spokesman said.

Relations between Washington and Tehran have been hostile for decades, with the United States designating Iran as one of the state sponsors of terrorism. The relations deteriorated even further after the United States withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal, in May and reimposed sanctions on Tehran.

The sanctions are aimed at exercising maximum pressure on Iran and force it to negotiate a new nuclear deal. As part of its campaign, the United States wants all countries to eventually reduce their Iranian oil imports to zero to damage the country's economy.