Iran, UN , NATO warn Syria against using Chemical weapons

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Iran, the United Nations and the NATO on Monday added their voices to warnings against Syria ever using chemical weapons in its increasingly large-scale war with anti-government insurgents, as more deaths were reported across the war-torn country.

As many as 175 people have been reportedly killed by the fire of Syrian forces across the country, mostly in Damascus, Aleppo and Idlib, Al Arabiya reported citing Syrian activists.

Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said in New York that Iran could not support any country — including ally Syria — that used such weapons, calling this “a situation that will end everything.”

“If any country… uses weapons of mass destruction, that is the end of the validity, eligibility, legality, whatever you name it, of that government,” he said at a talk given to the Council on Foreign Relations think tank, according to AFP.

He was responding to a hypothetical question from the audience about Iran’s reaction if fallout from chemical weapons drifted across the border in the event of the Syrian government there unleashing its chemical arsenal.

“Weapons of mass destruction, as we said it, is against humanity, something that is not acceptable,” he said.

Iran suffered from Iraqi use of chemical weapons during the countries’ 1980-1988 war and says it opposes all such weapons, although Western powers and Israel accuse Iran of trying to build a nuclear bomb.

The Syrian military has not used chemical weapons against the increasingly widespread rebellion. U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has said the Syrian regime recently its chemical arms to help keep them safe.

Dire consequences

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Monday once again warned Syria against using chemical weapons, saying any such attack would bring “dire consequences.”

“I once gain emphasize the fundamental responsibility of the Syrian government to ensure the safety and security of any such stockpile,” Ban told reporters at a meeting marking the 15th anniversary of the Chemical Weapons Convention on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly.

“The use of such weapons would be an outrageous crime with dire consequences,” he warned. “Chemical weapons simply have no place in the 21st century.”

The U.N. chief noted that Syria and seven other nations still had not signed the convention.

“I have expressed grave concern with statements made by representatives of the Syrian government about the existence of chemical weapons and their possible use,” Ban stressed.

In an interview with Beirut-based al-Mayadeen TV, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem accused the United States of seeking a pretext to attack Syria, comparing the tactic to those that preceded the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

“It is a myth they invented to launch a campaign against Syria like they did in Iraq,” he said.

A U.S.-led coalition invaded Iraq in March 2003, accusing Saddam Hussein of possessing weapons of mass destruction. No such weapons were ever found.

NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen said on Monday that Syria’s chemical weapon stockpiles were a “great concern” but the solution to the conflict remained political, not military.

Heavy fighting

Meanwhile, shelling and air raids killed scores of Syrian civilians, including children, on Monday, a watchdog said, while rebels and loyalists fought close-quarter battles in Aleppo’s main souk.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported shelling in the provinces of Hama, Deraa and Homs.

In a video released by activists from Salqeen, a number of the apparent air strike victims are seen piled in the back of a pick-up truck, their bodies charred black with limbs torn off.

In Aleppo, an AFP correspondent said rebels and regular soldiers traded fierce machinegun fire in and around the historic souk, which reverberated across the centuries-old UNESCO-listed covered market.

The fighting, which took place in an area of the souk facing Aleppo’s ancient citadel, came after parts of the market were ravaged by a fire, sparked by fighting, on Friday night and Saturday.

Traders told AFP that the army had no presence inside the souk area, which has been infiltrated by rebels.

The regime and rebels blamed each other for damage to the souk.

However, video posted on YouTube by activists showed rebel fighters trying to put out the fire with a water hose. “We are certain that it was regime fire that started the flames,” an anti-regime citizen journalist told AFP.

At least 30,000 people, including more than 2,000 children, have died in the conflict since it erupted in March 2011, according to figures supplied by the Observatory.

 

Al  Arabiya

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11 responses to “Iran, UN , NATO warn Syria against using Chemical weapons”

  1. wargame1 Avatar

    Iran and Syria allegedly used chemical weapons in Iraq:
    A question was asked to Iain Overton, editor of the Bureau of Investigative Journalism:

    There have been allegations of the use of chemical weapons by the US military in Iraq. Have you found anything connected to it?

    “We didn’t find anything specific related to the use of white phosphorus. We have certainly found references to the use of chemical weapons, being used by Al Qaeda in Iraq, being shipped over from Iran. We also found some evidence of chemical weapons being shipped over from Syria. There were references about chemical weapons both from Iran and Syria. All of this is alleged, of course.” 

    Here we see Syrian regime and Iranian Majoosis supplying chemical weapon to “Alqaeda”  so this is the real Alqaeda operative pretending to be Sunni resistance in order to demonize the resistance movement.

    U.S–led coalition forces have been accused of using chemical weapons against civilians in Iraq. Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena alleged that the U.S. had used white phosphorus and napalm in Fallujah during Operation Phantom Fury.

  2. wargame1 Avatar

    Iran and Syria allegedly used chemical weapons in Iraq:
    A question was asked to Iain Overton, editor of the Bureau of Investigative Journalism:

    There have been allegations of the use of chemical weapons by the US military in Iraq. Have you found anything connected to it?

    “We didn’t find anything specific related to the use of white phosphorus. We have certainly found references to the use of chemical weapons, being used by Al Qaeda in Iraq, being shipped over from Iran. We also found some evidence of chemical weapons being shipped over from Syria. There were references about chemical weapons both from Iran and Syria. All of this is alleged, of course.” 

    Here we see Syrian regime and Iranian Majoosis supplying chemical weapon to “Alqaeda”  so this is the real Alqaeda operative pretending to be Sunni resistance in order to demonize the resistance movement.

    U.S–led coalition forces have been accused of using chemical weapons against civilians in Iraq. Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena alleged that the U.S. had used white phosphorus and napalm in Fallujah during Operation Phantom Fury.

    1. 5thDrawer Avatar
      5thDrawer

      Might be necessary to differentiate between ‘nerve’, ‘chemical’, and ‘mineral’ weapons there wargame.
      But the chemical background as well as radiation background of the world in general rises with the human population increases. Some manufactured drugs are being found in water tables now.
      Anyone wonder why ‘cancer’ in general is on the rise?

  3. wargame1 Avatar

     In 1998 the Iranian government had publicly acknowledged that it began a chemical weapon program during the war. according to the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), Iran initiated a chemical weapon development program in 1983,the program began under the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), with the role of the Ministry of Defense increasing over time. 
    In 1987, according to the U.S. Department of Defense, Iran was able to deploy limited quantities of mustard gas and cyanide against Iraqi troops. The change in Iran’s policy with regard to chemical warfare was publicly announced in December 1987, when Iranian Prime Minister Hussein Musavi was reported to have told parliament that Iran was producing “sophisticated offensive chemical weapons.”

    As Iran’s chemical warfare capabilities grew, it became more difficult to determine which side was responsible for chemical attacks during the Iran-Iraq war. In March 1988, the Kurdish town of Halabja in northern Iraq, sandwiched between Iranian and Iraqi forces, was caught in chemical weapon crossfire that left thousands of civilians dead.

    So who used the chemical weapon in Halabja? 

    the US Defense Department study estimated that Iranian forces used more than 50 chemical bombs and artillery shells during the offensive. The Pentagon analysis of the Halabja incident is corroborated by a 1990 report co-written by Stephen Pelletiere, the CIA’s senior political analyst on Iraq during the Iran-Iraq war. 

    In his report, Pelletiere stated that there was “no evidence whatsoever that the Iraqis have ever employed blood gasses such as cyanogen chloride or hydrogen cyanide.” Because “blood agents were allegedly responsible for…the killing of Kurds at Halabjah,” Pelletiere concluded that “the Iranians perpetrated this attack.”

  4. wargame1 Avatar

     In 1998 the Iranian government had publicly acknowledged that it began a chemical weapon program during the war. according to the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), Iran initiated a chemical weapon development program in 1983,the program began under the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), with the role of the Ministry of Defense increasing over time. 
    In 1987, according to the U.S. Department of Defense, Iran was able to deploy limited quantities of mustard gas and cyanide against Iraqi troops. The change in Iran’s policy with regard to chemical warfare was publicly announced in December 1987, when Iranian Prime Minister Hussein Musavi was reported to have told parliament that Iran was producing “sophisticated offensive chemical weapons.”

    As Iran’s chemical warfare capabilities grew, it became more difficult to determine which side was responsible for chemical attacks during the Iran-Iraq war. In March 1988, the Kurdish town of Halabja in northern Iraq, sandwiched between Iranian and Iraqi forces, was caught in chemical weapon crossfire that left thousands of civilians dead.

    So who used the chemical weapon in Halabja? 

    the US Defense Department study estimated that Iranian forces used more than 50 chemical bombs and artillery shells during the offensive. The Pentagon analysis of the Halabja incident is corroborated by a 1990 report co-written by Stephen Pelletiere, the CIA’s senior political analyst on Iraq during the Iran-Iraq war. 

    In his report, Pelletiere stated that there was “no evidence whatsoever that the Iraqis have ever employed blood gasses such as cyanogen chloride or hydrogen cyanide.” Because “blood agents were allegedly responsible for…the killing of Kurds at Halabjah,” Pelletiere concluded that “the Iranians perpetrated this attack.”

  5. wargame1 Avatar

    In an assessment of Iran’s chemical weapon development released in November 2004, the CIA concluded that Iran “may have already stockpiled blister, blood, choking, and possible nerve agents—and the bombs and artillery shells to deliver them.” Earlier assessments put Iran’s stockpile of chemical agents at anywhere from several hundred to several thousand metric tons. In March 2001, General Tommy Franks, head of U.S. Central Command, testified before the U.S. House Armed Services Committee that Iran was “the holder of the largest chemical weapons stockpile” in his area of responsibility.

    (PLEASE NOTE / Iran directly helped the US and coalition force in Iraq against the Sunnis and this is how they were rewarded with a pro Iranian shia regime in Iraq. PLEASE ALSO NOTE that after all effort by USA and the coalition force they failed to provide any evidence that Saddam hossein had WMD !! the whole thing was an Iranian and Syrian plot aiding the occupation force)

    Some reports suggests, Iran may have used some other chemical weapon beside Musterd and cyanide during the Iran-Iraq war. In April 1988, a U.N. medical specialist examined several dozen Iraqi soldiers and concluded that they could all have been exposed to mustard gas. 

    In addition, the specialist observed symptoms in a number of patients that indicated possible exposure to “an acetylcholine esterase-inhibiting chemical in small concentrations,” which could suggest the use of a nerve agent. A 1990 DIA study also reported the allegation that Iran used sulfur mustard in some attacks, and concluded that Iran had either purchased the sulfur mustard or produced it on its own. 

    The U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency report added that a “U.N. team that examined Iraqi casualties from Iranian chemical attacks found that some of them displayed the effects of exposure to a choking agent…believed to have been phosgene.” Despite these findings, Iran has yet to acknowledge that it used chemical weapons during the Iran-Iraq war.

  6. wargame1 Avatar

    In an assessment of Iran’s chemical weapon development released in November 2004, the CIA concluded that Iran “may have already stockpiled blister, blood, choking, and possible nerve agents—and the bombs and artillery shells to deliver them.” Earlier assessments put Iran’s stockpile of chemical agents at anywhere from several hundred to several thousand metric tons. In March 2001, General Tommy Franks, head of U.S. Central Command, testified before the U.S. House Armed Services Committee that Iran was “the holder of the largest chemical weapons stockpile” in his area of responsibility.

    Some reports suggests, Iran may have used some other chemical weapon beside Musterd and cyanide during the Iran-Iraq war. In April 1988, a U.N. medical specialist examined several dozen Iraqi soldiers and concluded that they could all have been exposed to mustard gas. 

    In addition, the specialist observed symptoms in a number of patients that indicated possible exposure to “an acetylcholine esterase-inhibiting chemical in small concentrations,” which could suggest the use of a nerve agent. A 1990 DIA study also reported the allegation that Iran used sulfur mustard in some attacks, and concluded that Iran had either purchased the sulfur mustard or produced it on its own. 

    The U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency report added that a “U.N. team that examined Iraqi casualties from Iranian chemical attacks found that some of them displayed the effects of exposure to a choking agent…believed to have been phosgene.” Despite these findings, Iran has yet to acknowledge that it used chemical weapons during the Iran-Iraq war.

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