TEHRAN- Iran’s UN envoy has cast doubt on the authenticity of a report from the world chemical watchdog that charges Syria of a purported chemical assault against the citizens of the Arab nation in 2018.

Amir Saeed Iravani made the comments while speaking at the United Nations Security Council meeting on Tuesday.  

The so-called Investigation and Identification Team of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) released the report around the end of last month saying there were “sensible reasons to suspect” that during the alleged event, two cylinders of poisonous gas were dropped on the town of Douma, near Damascus, by at least one Syrian air force helicopter.

The charges have been vehemently refuted and blasted by Damascus as having no support from any logical or scientific evidence.

Ambassador Iravani said the report, like earlier ones produced by the OPCW about the purported event, is “based on illegal sources, lacks the requisite legal conclusion, and has been developed regardless of the Syrian government’s findings.”

He said that Syria was the target of a “premeditated scenario” put on by Western nations.

Iravani said, “The Islamic Republic is profoundly worried about the exploitation and politicization of the OPCW,” adding that “such manipulation of the organization damaged its credibility.”