TEHRAN – The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) adopted on Friday Iran’s proposal calling for the establishment of International Support Network for the Victims of Chemical Weapons. 

The proposal was adopted by a vote of 118 during the last day of the Sixteenth Session of the Conference of the States Parties to the CWC in The Hague, which started on November 28. 

The United States, Israel, and a number of Western countries voted against the proposal. 

Iran had put forward the initiative in 2003.  

Iran’s representative to the OPCW, Kazem Gharibabadi, said on Friday that the adoption of the proposal was an important step toward expressing sympathy with the victims of chemical weapons. 

Gharibabadi, who is also Iran’s ambassador to the Netherlands, expressed hope that more measures would be taken to help these victims. 

The Islamic Republic of Iran was re-elected to the Executive Council of the OPCW for a two-year term on November 30.