Iran
behind anti-WMD rider in chemical watchdog's decision on Syria -
Lavrov
A
small but far reaching clause in the chemical watchdog’s decision
on Syria that urges all non-signatories of the Chemical Weapons
Convention to join the treaty was actually proposed by Iran – and
supported by the US – Russian FM Sergey Lavrov revealed.
30
September, 2013
Recalling
the tense round of negotiations surrounding the issue of Syria’s
chemical weapons, the Russian foreign minister said that it was Iran
that “offered a very sound
addition.”
The insider revelation into the diplomatic process of avoiding yet
another armed conflict in the Middle East was shared by Sergey Lavrov
in an interview with Kommersant daily.
“It
is very important that in the Hague, when there was a vote on the
decision on the role of the OPCW in implementing the program of
chemical weapons destruction in Syria, a special clause was inserted
urging all countries which have not yet done so to sign the
convention,”
Lavrov said.
“I
will reveal a little secret: this clause was introduced by Iran and
supported by the United States. Iran in the past century, has twice
suffered from chemical weapons. I think Iran offered a very sound
addition,”
the Russian foreign minister said.
Lavrov
added that back in Geneva, it was Russia which suggested that such a
clause be included in the draft resolution submitted to the UN
Security Council with the aim of establishing within the Middle East
a zone free from all weapons of mass destruction and their means of
delivery.
Now
Moscow has embarked on a special mission to make the world a chemical
weapons free zone. After meeting with US President Barack Obama
during the G20 summit in St. Petersburg earlier this month, Russian
Presidet Vladimir Putin expressed his desire to see all the chemical
weapons in the world destroyed, the Russian Foreign Minister
revealed.
“This
key task – to do everything possible in order to neutralize,
deliver to international control and then destroy chemical stockpiles
that still exist in the world – was set by president [Putin] after
his conversation with Barack Obama,”
Lavrov told Kommersant.
In
the meantime, Russia will urge the Syrian government to prevent the
disruption of the plan's implementation for the destruction of
chemical weapons. The West, Lavrov said, should send a similar
signal to the opposition on the ground.
“There
are terrorist groups who do not obey anyone except Al-Qaeda,”
Lavrov said Sunday. “But the
oppositionists, who are subjected to the influence of outside
players, should be educable. They should be sent a signal, so that
they would not dare to undermine the process.”
Russia
in turn will do everything to play a role in destroying the Syrian
chemical weapons.
“We
are ready to participate in all components of the forthcoming
operation – in inspection activities and the administrative
structures that can be set up to coordinate activities between the UN
and the OPCW on the ground, as well as in structures that [we] will
likely have to create in order to provide security and support for
the Syrian law enforcement.”
With
the new revelation about Tehran’s role in the Syrian disarmament
process, Iran's intent to de-militarize the Middle East seems even
more serious.
Iranian
President Hassan Rouhani’s speech at the UN General Assembly was
focused at promoting peace efforts in the Middle East.
Besides
indicating his country’s full readiness to immediately engage in
result-oriented talks over its nuclear program, he also urged Israel
to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
and called for a world disarmament conference to establish a
nuclear-free zone in the Middle East.
“Threatening
non-nuclear states with nuclear weapons should end. The modernization
of these weapons undercuts efforts for their total abolition,”
Iranian president stressed.
Compared
to his predecessor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the recently-elected Iranian
leader significantly softened his tone on the country’s
controversial nuclear program by agreeing to make it more
transparent. Iran is expected to present its own plan at the P5+1
nuclear talks in Geneva next month.
The
conversation between Roahani and Obama, as well as Tehran’s call to
create a nuclear-free zone in the Middle East was not welcomed by
Tel-Aviv.
Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is headed to the US to meet with
Barack Obama on Monday to discuss the “truth”
behind Iran’s recent diplomatic gains. Israel, which is estimated
to have at least 80 nuclear warheads, thinks that Tehran is fooling
the Western powers to continue advancing towards a nuclear weapons
capability.
“I
intend to tell the truth in the face of the sweet talk and charm
offensive of Iran,”
Netanyahu said. “Telling the
truth at this time is essential for world peace and security and, of
course, for Israel's security.”
But
it seems that Israel will have a hard time convincing the US
administration. US Secretary of State John Kerry, who has welcomed
the new positive tone from Iran after meeting one-on-one with his
Iranian counterpart on Thursday, said in his latest interview that
a nuclear deal with Iran could be reached in months.
“We
need to have a good deal here. And a good deal means that it is
absolutely accountable, failsafe in its measures to make certain this
is a peaceful program,”
Kerry told CBS's 60 Minutes on Sunday.
“If
it is a peaceful program, and we can all see that - the whole world
sees that - the relationship with Iran can change dramatically for
the better and it can change fast.”
UN
inspectors prepare to dismantle Syria's chemical weapons cache
At
times team will have to wear protective suits and armour in 35C heat
during most hazardous disarmament mission ever
29
September, 2013
A
20-strong international team of engineers, chemists and paramedics
leave the Netherlands for Syria on Monday to embark on the most
hazardous mission in the history of disarmament: to dismantle one of
the world's biggest chemical weapons arsenals, during a civil war,
under extreme deadline pressure.
In
35C heat inspectors from the international Organisation for the
Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) will, at times, wear body
armour and helmets over their chemical protection suits, sometimes
carrying air tanks on their backs, in their efforts to abide by a UN
security council resolution to destroy about 1,000 tonnes of nerve
agents such as sarin and other poisonous gases such as sulphur
mustard.
Syria's
President Bashar al-Assad vowed to co-operate with the mission in an
interview with Italy's RAI News 24 TV. "Of course we have to
comply [with the UN resolution]. This is our history to comply with
every treaty we sign," he said.
The
inspectors are due to arrive in Damascus on Tuesday. They will need
to work quickly to meet the tight deadlines agreed by the security
council on Friday.
In
the first few days, a group of 20 inspectors drawn from about a dozen
countries will have to fill the gaps in Syria's initial disclosure of
its inventory of poison gases, nerve agents, delivery systems and
production sites and fine tune the logistics for visiting the
declared sites.
At
that point, some of the documentation and political liaison
specialists in the team will leave, and other experts will arrive,
including chemical engineers, analytical chemists and medical
specialists in case of accidental contamination. Within days the
reinforced contingent will be split into field teams that will fan
out to the declared weapons sites and laboratories. The inspectors
will not say how many locations are involved as the Syrian
declaration was confidential, but it is believed there are about 25
on the list.
Their
first priority will be the locations where the weapons are produced.
Under the UN resolution, all chemical production and mixing plants,
as well as equipment used for filling rockets and shells with nerve
agents or sulphur mustard gas, must be destroyed by 1 November, so as
to crush the heart of the programme as quickly as possible. But to
get the job done in time, the Syrians – with international
oversight – will have to use some rough and ready methods.
"We
could fill reactors with concrete, perhaps, or they could smash them
up if they're particularly delicate – if they're glass-lined
reactors for example. Or equipment can be destroyed with explosives
or by having a tank drive over it," said one senior OPCW
official involved in the planning of the operation.
The
official stressed that everything would be done in partnership with
Syrian technicians: "We'll identify, in conjunction with our
Syrian colleagues, critical pieces of equipment and then invite them
to destroy them," he said. "The whole process will be
conducted in a collaborative manner. It's not as if we turn up and
point at something and say: blow that up; drive that over that
equipment; fill that with concrete."
He
said that the Syrian government had co-operated so far: the
organisation submitted its initial list of inspectors to Damascus on
Friday and got approval the next day, with no objections to any team
members on the basis of nationality.
"We
have already seen from dealings with them there is a willingness and
an engagement to do this," the official said. "They have
made a strategic decision."
The
provisional plan is to concentrate the Syrian arsenal in a couple of
major sites where mobile chemical neutralisation plants and
incinerators can be used to destroy it. Russian and US intelligence
analysts have said that much of the stockpile is in the form of
precursor chemicals, or chemical ingredients, which are easier and
quicker to destroy than pre-mixed and weaponised chemical weapons.
The
deadline for destroying the whole arsenal has been set at mid-2014.
Whether or not this is feasible or not will depend on the ebb and
flow of the war, analysts say.
The
Syrian government has reportedly consolidated its chemical weapons in
roughly two dozen sites to stop them falling into the hands of
rebels, but some of those sites are close to the frontlines.
"The
Syrian disclosure has identified a number of locations," the
official said. "Some are in areas completely controlled by the
Syrian government. Others are in areas that are close to
confrontation lines, but some may require us having to drive through
opposition territory."
To
cross the lines, inspectors will rely on UN officials based in Syria
who have contacts with most parties in the conflict to negotiate safe
passage. The same approach was taken when inspectors investigated the
large-scale attack in eastern Damascus in August, which triggered a
threat of US-led air strikes and ultimately the Assad regime's
agreement to disarm.
The
method was far from fail-safe. A UN vehicle came under sniper fire as
it crossed the lines, but there are no plans at present to bring in
foreign troops to protect the inspectors. That would be a decision
for the UN, which is playing a facilitating role for the mission.
Some
of the members of the initial inspection team are ex-military
munitions experts who have had experience of combat zones, but the
fighting across shifting frontlines adds an extra layer of danger to
an already hazardous task, and another physical burden.
"We
will have protective suits and hand-held monitors for
self-protection," the senior inspector said, adding: "Doing
that kind of activity while wearing body armour and helmets is not
ideal. It is really at the top end of the scale of physical burden
and stress and contamination control. Wearing protective suits and
body armour is physiologically pretty hard."
The
risks of being in or near the front line of a civil war, in 35C heat,
while trying to secure toxic chemicals, will give the team no
shortage of dilemmas: "At that point, we start to look into
what's more hazardous: the guys going down with heat exhaustion, the
guys being exposed to toxic agents or the guys being shot at,"
the official concluded.
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