OPCW restores Syria's voting rights at chemical weapons watchdog

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons' executive council reinstated Syria's voting rights on Thursday, citing "a significant change in circumstances" since the fall of former dictator Bashar al-Assad. The council rewarded Damascus for "constructive engagement" with the organization and its willingness to destroy previously hidden stockpiles of toxic munitions. OPCW Director-General Fernando Arias called it "tangible progress achieved through continued cooperation."

Syria was stripped of its voting rights in 2021 after its forces were found to have repeatedly used poison gas during the civil war, the first time a member state had faced such a sanction. Though largely symbolic, the move signaled that breaches of the 1997 Chemical Weapons Convention would not be accepted. The OPCW said Syria's transitional authorities "committed to fulfilling Syria's obligations under the Convention and have since taken concrete steps."

In May, a Syrian official told Reuters that the transitional leadership had located remnants of Assad's clandestine chemical weapons program, including raw materials and munitions similar to those used in past gas attacks. The OPCW separately announced that month that dozens of chemical bombs and rockets left over from Assad's rule had been found after previously undeclared weapons sites were opened to inspectors. The council also approved plans to destroy part of that stockpile, including nerve agent materials, at a site in Al Qutayfah, north of Damascus.

Repeated UN and OPCW investigations concluded Syrian government forces used the nerve agent sarin and chlorine barrel bombs in attacks that killed or injured thousands; Syria and its ally Russia denied this at the time. When Syria joined the OPCW in 2013 under Western pressure, Assad's government declared chemical weapons at 26 sites, though the watchdog believes roughly 100 more went undeclared.

President Ahmad al-Sharaa, a former insurgent who led the offensive that toppled Assad, has pledged to destroy any remaining chemical weapons from the former regime as he works to rebuild Syria and restore ties with the West.

The OPCW's executive council said it will continue monitoring Syria's progress and will take further decisions as needed to eliminate the remaining weapons inherited from Assad's government.