Iran Urges Int’l Community to React to Terrorists’ Use of Chemical Weapons in Syria

Iran called on the UN to adopt proper measures to prevent terrorists from using chemical weapons against the Syrian people again.

Iranian top diplomat Ali Akbar Salehi urged the United Nations to condemn the use of chemical weapons by the terrorists against the Syrian nation.

In a letter to the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, he condemned the terrorist act of the Syrian rebels in using chemical weapons against the nation, and called on the international body to adopt preventive measures to stop repetition of such accidents.

The letter, a copy of which was also sent to president of the UN Security Council, pointed to the massacre of a number of defenseless Syrian civilians in the city of Alepo by terrorist groups, and stressed that the act was a serious threat to the international peace and security.

Salehi said it also clearly negated the international legal norms, including the convention on banning the use of chemical weapons.

Salehi reiterated that Iran as the biggest victim of chemical weapons has always condemned the terrorist approach of the Syrian rebels and expected all governments and international organizations, including the UN to strongly condemn such behavior and spare no efforts to prevent its recurrence.

He also urged them to carry out an impartial investigation to find out supporters and sponsors of the inhuman act.

Noting that the crime was committed on the threshold of the third conference to revise regulations relating to the chemical weapons, Salehi emphasized the need for the thorough, effective and indiscriminate implementation of the convention by signatory countries, specially the absolute elimination of destructive weapons by their owners.

The letter concluded by stressing that use of chemical weapons by governments and dissident groups under any conditions was unacceptable.

Last Tuesday, terrorists fired a rocket containing chemical substances in the Khan al-Assal area of rural Aleppo and reports indicated that around 25 people were killed, most of them civilians.

On Wednesday, Syria asked for an independent investigation into the use of chemical weapons by militants in Aleppo.

Later, Ban Ki-moon announced the decision for conducting an independent investigation into the terrorist chemical attack.

“I have decided to conduct a United Nations investigation into the possible use of chemical weapons in Syria,” Ban told reporters in his office on Thursday, adding that “I intend for this investigation to start as soon as practically possible.”

The chemical attack came after a video footage posted on the internet late in January showed that the armed militants in Syria possessed canisters containing chemical substances.

The foreign-sponsored militants had earlier released footage in which rabbits were killed by inhaling poisonous gas.