Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani stated on Wednesday, March 5, that his country is committed to cooperating with the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to eliminate the remnants of the chemical weapons program established by the Assad regime.

This announcement was made during a speech delivered by al-Shibani at the 108th session of the OPCW Executive Council, held at its headquarters in The Hague, as per a statement published on the organization’s website.

Al-Shibani added that Syria is determined to rebuild the future of a new Syria based on transparency, justice, and cooperation with the international community.

He emphasized that Syria’s commitments today at the Executive Council (of the organization), at this historical stage, are to destroy the remnants of the chemical weapons program that was developed during the Assad regime, put an end to this painful legacy, achieve justice for the victims, and ensure strong compliance with international law.

“Syria is firmly committed to this mission, but Syria needs the support of the international community and the OPCW in technical, logistical, capability building, and resource and expertise aspects on the ground to achieve this,” said the Syrian minister.

During his visit to The Hague, al-Shibani met with his Dutch counterpart, Kaspar Veldkamp, the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Karim Ahmad Khan, and the Director-General of the OPCW, Fernando Arias.

Arias stated that the OPCW welcomes the visit of the Syrian Foreign Minister and his participation in the Executive Council, which reflects the strong commitment from the new Syrian authorities to cooperate with the OPCW to eliminate all chemical weapons in Syria.

He added that the evolving political landscape in Syria provides the OPCW and the international community with a new and historic opportunity to complete the eradication of the chemical weapons program in Syria, and the OPCW stands ready to support the new Syrian authorities in fulfilling the commitments of the Syrian Arab Republic under the Chemical Weapons Convention.

Syria participated for the first time in its history in the Executive Council meeting of the OPCW in The Hague yesterday.

On Wednesday, al-Shibani stated via his account on X that this participation reflects Syria’s commitment to international security and represents a tribute to those who lost their lives due to chemical attacks carried out by the previous Syrian regime.

The ousted Assad regime faced accusations of launching dozens of chemical attacks to suppress the Syrian revolution. In 2013, the Syrian regime launched missiles carrying sarin gas against Eastern Ghouta, resulting in the deaths of more than 1,400 people, including hundreds of children.

Following the sarin gas attack on Eastern Ghouta, Damascus joined the OPCW under an agreement between the United States and Russia, and 1,300 tons of weapons and precursor materials were destroyed by the international community.

As part of its membership, Damascus was supposed to undergo inspections, but for more than a decade, the OPCW was prevented from revealing the true scope of the weapons program. Inspectors concluded that Syria’s declared stockpile did not accurately reflect the situation on the ground.

Three investigations — a Joint Mechanism from the United Nations and the OPCW, the Fact-Finding Mission of the OPCW, and the United Nations investigation into war crimes — concluded that the ousted regime’s forces used chemical weapons in their attacks on areas controlled by the Syrian opposition, resulting in the deaths and injuries of thousands.

After Bashar al-Assad’s fall, the head of the OPCW, Fernando Arias, visited Damascus where he met with the Syrian transitional president, Ahmed al-Sharaa.

The OPCW is an international agency based in The Hague that includes 193 member states and is responsible for implementing the Chemical Weapons Convention of 1997.

The sudden fall of the Assad regime on December 8, 2024, brought hope for the possibility of getting rid of chemical weapons in Syria, which the regime had retained and circumvented international organization decisions to conceal part of its stockpile.

Previously, Syrian Defense Minister Murhaf Abu Qasra announced ongoing communications with the OPCW regarding weapons still in Syria, stating to Reuters mid-January that he does not believe any remnants of the Syrian chemical weapons program remain intact.

Abu Qasra added, “Even if something remains, it has been bombed by the Israeli army,” referring to a wave of Israeli strikes in Syria following Assad’s fall.

According to the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR), the Assad forces have carried out 217 chemical attacks since the beginning of the revolution in 2011.

On April 21, 2021, the member states of the OPCW decided to suspend some of Syria’s membership rights.

This decision came after the organization confirmed the use of chemical weapons in attacks that occurred in Latamneh in Hama province in March 2017, and in the city of Saraqib in Idlib province in February 2018.