Iran`s Majlis seek action on US non-compliance with Chemical Weapons Convention

TEHRAN, Nov. 28 (MNA) – Iranian MP Kazem Jalali said on Saturday that the Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Committee has decided to push for punitive action against the United States for not complying with the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). The Conference of the States Parties to the CWC has decided to examine the U.S. non-compliance with the convention, so it is time to press ahead with a motion to compel the United Nations Security Council to adopt a resolution on the U.S. failure to fulfill its international obligations with regard to the total eradication of chemical weapons, Jalali said. He added that the committee will summon the representatives of ministries and organizations, which are tasked with pursuing the rights of the victims of chemical weapon attacks during the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war, to ask them to prepare documents that show an indirect involvement of the U.S. and a number of European countries in the use of chemical weapons by Saddam Hussein’s regime against Iranian people and soldiers and send them to the UN Security Council. The Sixteenth Session of the Conference of the States Parties to the CWC is scheduled to be held from November 28 to December 2 in The Hague. April 29, 2012 has 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, has officially announced that it would not meet the 2012 deadline and has set 2021 as its target date. Iran has said the U.S. decision to retain its stockpiles of chemical weapons after the 2012 deadline is a major threat to peace and security in the world and called on the international community to try to compel the U.S. to meet its international commitments in this regard. According to the article 12 of the CWC, in cases where serious damage to the object and purpose of the convection may result from a member state’s activities, which are prohibited under the convention, the conference may recommend collective measures to states parties in conformity with international law. The conference shall, in cases of particular gravity, bring the issue, including relevant information and conclusions, to the attention of the UN General Assembly and the UN Security Council.