by News Agencies and Israel Hayom Staff
U.S. is worried Iran is seeking "central nervous system-acting chemicals for offensive purposes," Kenneth Ward tells Organisation for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons
Iran has not
declared all its chemical weapons capabilities to the global
Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, in violation of
international nonproliferation conventions, the U.S. ambassador to the
organization said on Thursday.
Ambassador Kenneth Ward told an OPCW
conference in The Hague that Iran had failed to report a production
facility for the filling of aerial bombs and maintains a program to
obtain banned toxic munitions.
"The United States has had longstanding
concerns that Iran maintains a chemical weapons program that it has
failed to declare to the OPCW," Ward said.
"The United States is also concerned that Iran is also pursuing central nervous system-acting chemicals for offensive purposes."
Iran failed to declare the transfer of
chemical weapons to Libya in the 1980s, even after Libya declared them
to the OPCW in 2011, he said.
Ward cited the discovery of chemical-filled
artillery projectiles, mortars and aerial bombs of Iranian origin as
proof that Iran did not fully disclose its capabilities.
Iran denied the claims on Friday, describing the U.S. allegation as groundless, state TV reported.
"Once again America has leveled groundless
accusations against Iran ... which we strongly reject," Foreign Ministry
spokesman Bahram Qasemi was quoted as saying by Iranian TV.
Qasemi said Washington's aim is to divert international attention from its continued support for Israeli chemical arsenals.
Tensions have increased between the U.S.
and Iran since May, when U.S. President Donald Trump pulled out of the
2015 nuclear deal between Iran and six major powers and reimposed
sanctions.
The U.N. atomic watchdog policing the pact
reaffirmed on Thursday that Iran was implementing its side of the
nuclear deal, two weeks after the latest wave of reimposed U.S.
sanctions against Iran took effect.
"Iran is implementing its nuclear-related
commitments under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action [the official
name of the nuclear accord]," International Atomic Energy Agency
Director General Yukiya Amano told a quarterly meeting of the agency’s
35-nation Board of Governors.
"It is essential that Iran continues to
fully implement those commitments," he said, confirming the findings of a
confidential report to IAEA member states last week.
Amano did not comment on the broader impact
of U.S. sanctions, the latest round of which took effect on Nov. 5.
Iran has warned it could scrap the deal if signatories France, Britain
and Germany and their allies fail to preserve the economic benefits
promised by its terms.
The European powers have been working on
setting up a so-called special-purpose vehicle that would act as a kind
of clearing house to match Iranian exports with EU exports in what
amounts to a barter arrangement to circumvent U.S. sanctions.
But the countries they have approached to
host it have declined, diplomats say, delaying the project and deepening
doubt as to whether Europeans can counteract the bulk of U.S. sanctions
targeting oil and other vital sources of income.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Iran has no intention of renegotiating the 2015 nuclear deal.
Speaking at an international conference in Rome, Zarif said the Iranian people would endure the U.S. sanctions.
News Agencies and Israel Hayom Staff
Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/2018/11/23/us-envoy-iran-failed-to-declare-all-chemical-weapons-to-global-agency/
Follow Middle East and Terrorism on Twitter
No comments:
Post a Comment