Iran deplores U.S. non-compliance with CWC

TEHRAN, May 6 (MNA) – Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Mohammad Mahdi Akhoundzadeh has strongly criticized the United States for failing to fulfill its international obligations with regard to the total destruction of chemical weapons. Akhoundzadeh made the remarks during a recent meeting with the director general of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), Ahmet Uzumcu, on the sidelines of the 68th session of the Executive Council of the OPCW. The OPCW is the implementing body of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) and has the mandate to ensure the implementation of its provisions, including those for international verification of compliance with it. April 29, 2012 had been set as the final deadline for the total eradication of all chemical weapons, but the U.S., which is the country that has the largest stockpiles of chemical weapons, failed to meet the 2012 deadline and set 2021 as its target date. Akhoundzadeh also called on the OPCW director general to make every effort to compel the U.S. and other countries that failed to meet the deadline to take immediate measures to eradicate their stockpiles of chemical weapons. He added that the failure to meet the deadline for the total eradication of chemical weapons will undermine public confidence in “international mechanisms”.