Iran rejects U.S. claims on chemical weapons as 'groundless'

World
Europe

Iran denied on Friday it had violated an international convention by not fully declaring its chemical weapons capabilities to the UN, describing a U.S. allegation to that effect as groundless, state TV reported.

In a meeting of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in The Hague on Thursday, U.S. Ambassador Kenneth Ward reiterated concerns that Iran maintained a chemical weapons program that it has failed to declare to the agency.

Ward said Iran had failed to declare the transfer of chemical-filled shells sent to Libya in the 1980s despite an appeal by the OPCW to identify their origin. They were found after the death of Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi in 2011.

Ward accused Iran and its ally Russia of "enabling" the use of chemical weapons by the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad "while pursuing their own chemical weapons programs."

"Once again America has leveled groundless accusations against Iran... which we strongly reject," Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi was quoted as saying by Iranian TV.

Iranians demonstrate outside the former U.S. embassy in the Iranian capital Tehran, November 4, 2018. /VCG Photo

Tension has increased between Washington and Tehran since May, when U.S. President Donald Trump re-imposed sanctions after pulling out of a 2015 nuclear deal, under which they had been lifted, between Iran and six major powers.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Thursday that without guarantees, Trump's U.S. could not be trusted for any further talks.

Meanwhile on Thursday, the chief of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN's nuclear watchdog, reaffirmed that Iran is implementing its commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

(Top image: People attend Iranian President Hassan Rouhani's public speech in the city of Khoy, Iran, November 19, 2018. /VCG Photo)

Source(s): AFP ,Reuters