TEHRAN – Iran’s ambassador to the Netherlands has called on the United States and Russia, as the countries that have the largest stockpiles of chemical weapons, to fulfill their commitments based on the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) and meet the deadline of April 29, 2012 for the eradication of their chemical weapons.

Ambassador Kazem Gharibabadi, who also holds an executive post at the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), made the remarks during his speech to the 65th Session of the Executive Council of OPCW, which is being held from July 12 to 15 in The Hague.

The OPCW is the implementing body of the Chemical Weapons Convention and has the mandate to ensure the implementation of its provisions, including those for international verification of compliance with it.  

The Iranian diplomat highlighted the importance of the total abolition of chemical weapons throughout the world, saying stockpiling chemical weapons by certain countries has posed a serious threat to international peace and security. 

He also called on the member states to make every effort to meet the deadline for the eradication of chemical weapons and proposed that if the countries that have stockpiles of chemical weapons fail to fulfill their commitments in this regard, the issue would be reported to the United Nations Security Council.