Executive Council reinstates the rights and privileges of Syria under Chemical Weapons Convention

Executive Council reinstates the rights and privileges of Syria under Chemical Weapons Convention From left to right: OPCW Deputy Director-General Odette Melono, OPCW Director-General Fernando Arias, Chairperson of the 112th Session of the Executive Council Ambassador Mohamed Basri of Morocco, Director of the Secretariat for the Policy-Making Organs Vasily Titushkin, and Legal Adviser Johan Rautenbach during the 112th Session of the OPCW Executive Council at OPCW Headquarters in The Hague, the Netherlands, on 9 July 2026. THE HAGUE, Netherlands—09 July 2026—Acting under the authority delegated by the Conference of the States Parties (CSP), the Executive Council of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) today, at its 112th session, adopted a draft decision to reinstate the rights and privileges of the Syrian Arab Republic at the OPCW that were suspended since 2021. The decision was co-sponsored by 67 States Parties from different regional groups and adopted by consensus. The Executive Council’s decision follows a significant change in circumstances since the CSP suspended certain rights and privileges of the Syrian Arab Republic in 2021 due to the former Syrian government’s failure to declare the full scope of its chemical weapons programme and the confirmed use of chemical weapons on Syrian territory. Both constituted serious violations of Syria’s obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention. Following the fall of the Assad regime, the new Syrian authorities committed to fulfilling Syria’s obligations under the Convention and have since taken concrete steps to cooperate with the Technical Secretariat to achieve this goal. Recognising these developments, the CSP, at its 30th session, delegated authority to the Executive Council to review Syria’s progress, based on reports by the OPCW Director-General, and to lift the measures once sufficient progress had been demonstrated. In the decision, the Executive Council welcomed the progress made by Syria in addressing outstanding issues related to its chemical weapons programme, including the amendment of its initial declaration, the preparation of facility agreements, the facilitation of verification activities by the Technical Secretariat, and initial steps towards the destruction of identified remnants, including the preparation of an agreed detailed plan for verification and preparations for destruction activities. The Executive Council also approved a detailed plan for the verification of the destruction of Category 3 chemical weapons at Al Qutayfah, and two separate facility agreements for the systematic verification of the Al Qutayfah and Homs chemical weapons storage facilities. The Executive Council encouraged Syria to maintain positive cooperation with the Technical Secretariat in working towards closing the chemical weapons dossier inherited from the former regime. Syria will continue to be required to fulfil its obligations under the Convention, while the Executive Council will continue to review progress and take decisions necessary to advance the verified elimination of the remaining chemical weapons programme inherited from the former regime. “These decisions reflect the tangible progress achieved through continued cooperation and constructive engagement between the Technical Secretariat and the Syrian Arab Republic, with the support of the wider community of States Parties,” said OPCW Director-General Fernando Arias. “The decisions provide a robust framework for advancing the next phase of verification and destruction activities, under the aegis of the Executive Council, and marks another milestone in the OPCW’s efforts to achieve the complete and verified elimination of all remaining chemical weapons associated with the former Syrian government,” he added. “The Technical Secretariat will continue to assist the Syrian authorities in fulfilling all Syria’s under the Convention,” Director-General Arias highlighted. Background Syria acceded to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) in 2013 under a stringent verification regime. While Syria submitted an initial declaration of its chemical weapons (CW) programme, the former Syrian government did not declare all its CW programme and attempted – unsuccessfully – to mislead the international community about the overall scope and scale of its chemical weapons programme. Furthermore, the Technical Secretariat documented and independently confirmed chemical weapons use in Syria both by the former Syrian military forces and by non-state actors, specifically ISIS/ISIL. The fall of the Assad government in December 2024 created an opportunity to uncover the full scope of Syria’s chemical weapons programme and to eliminate it in line with the CWC. In February 2025, the OPCW Director-General visited Syria and held separate meetings with the Syrian President and Foreign Minister. They expressed Syria’s recognition of all OPCW mandates, including the identification of perpetrators of chemical weapons use in Syria and reaffirmed Syria’s full commitment to fulfilling its obligations under the CWC. In March 2025, the Syrian Foreign Minister visited the OPCW and addressed the Executive Council, where he renewed Syria’s commitment to the Convention. Since the visit by the Director-General to Damascus in February 2025, the OPCW Technical Secretariat deployed several times to Syria, involving visits to numerous suspected locations, sampling, interviews, collection of documents related to Syria’s chemical weapons programme, and coordination. Since June 2025, the work inter alia related to the Syrian chemical weapons dossier – verification of declarations, investigation of use of toxic chemicals as weapons and identification of perpetrators of such use in the Syrian Arab Republic – is now coordinated by the OPCW Office of Special Missions. As the implementing body for the Chemical Weapons Convention, the OPCW, with its 193 Member States, oversees the global endeavour to permanently eliminate chemical weapons. Since the Convention’s entry into force in 1997, it is the most successful disarmament treaty eliminating an entire class of weapons of mass destruction. In 2023, the OPCW verified that all chemical weapons stockpiles declared by the 193 States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention to that point since 1997 — totalling 72,304 metric tonnes of chemical agents — had been irreversibly destroyed under the OPCW’s strict verification regime. For its extensive efforts in eliminating chemical weapons, the OPCW received the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize. Related links: Conference tasks Executive Council to assess conditions for restoring Syria’s full OPCW rights Conference of the States Parties adopts Decision to suspend certain rights and privileges of the Syrian Arab Republic under the CWC ppuhm Thu 09/07/2026 - 13:28 9 July 2026 Syria Director-General Fernando Árias Deputy Director-General Odette Melono Executive Council Off