Iranian MP Rejects West’s Allegations on Syria Chemical Arms

There has not been any reliable evidence thus far that the Syrian government has used chemical weapons against the militants, a senior Iranian lawmaker said.
The evidences presented by Russia earlier this week, showing that militants, not the Syrian Army, had used Sarin nerve gas during an attack, has once again revealed the evil face of the enemies of the Syrian government and nation, Member of the Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Baqer Hosseini said on Friday.

On Thursday, Russia’s UN Envoy Vitaly Churkin sharply criticized western nations’ propaganda storm regarding allegations that the Syrian government has used chemical weapons against its own people.

Churkin said that the three western nations were making accusations that are not worth taking seriously.

“We need to be looking to credible allegations,” he told reporters, adding that the insistence on looking into other incidents besides Khan al-Assal was a “small propaganda storm in a glass of water”, Alalam reported.

The Russian ambassador on Tuesday presented UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon a Russian analysis that showed how a projectile containing sarin poisonous gas that hit Khan al-Assal in the Northern Aleppo province on March 19, killing 26 civilians and military personnel, was fired by rebels.

That report came after Syria allowed Russian experts to visit the site and take environmental samples for analysis.

The United States, France and Britain, foes of Syria’s government, cast doubt on the Russian analysis and repeated their previous calls for a UN chemical investigation team to have unfettered access in Syria, not just Khan al-Assal.

“Unfortunately I think what our western colleagues have been doing is trying to produce the maximum number of allegations with the minimum of credibility in an effort … to create maximum problems for arranging such an investigation,” Churkin said.

Syria has refused to allow the UN chemical investigation to visit anywhere but Khan al-Assal. Ban has insisted that the team, which is led by Ake Sellstrom of Sweden, be permitted to visit at least one other location, the city of Homs.

On Wednesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov confirmed the use of chemical weapons by foreign-backed militants fighting against the Syrian government.

“Our experts took samples on the spot and studied them in the very lab which is certified by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and came to the conclusion that both the shell and the sarin it contained were home-made,” the Russian foreign minister said.

“According to our additional information, these shells and the substance were made last February in the Syrian territory which at that time was under the control of the Free Syrian Army and made by one of the affiliated armed groups,” Lavrov added.