Iran says US attacks damaged 111 petrochemical and medical sites

Iran's mission in The Hague has published portions of remarks by Hadi Farajvand at the 113th session of the Executive Council of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), stating that during US attacks, 60 petrochemical complexes, 44 pharmaceutical factories and seven pharmaceutical facilities in Iran were damaged.

Farajvand, Iran's permanent representative to the OPCW, said the damage inflicted on Iran's chemical and pharmaceutical industries has disrupted supply chains and affected the process of implementing obligations related to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). He stressed that protecting chemical facilities against armed conflict is essential for preserving the integrity of the convention, peaceful activities in the chemical field and international cooperation.

He added that deliberate US attacks on these facilities have raised serious concerns regarding Articles 1, 6 and 11 of the CWC, as well as the goals and purposes of the international document. According to the text of the convention, Article 1 is devoted to the general obligations of member states regarding the prohibition of chemical weapons, Article 6 covers non-prohibited chemical activities, and Article 11 emphasises international cooperation and economic and technological development in the field of peaceful chemical activities.

In another part of his remarks, Farajvand once again raised Iran's concerns about US compliance with the Chemical Weapons Convention, saying these concerns relate to Washington's role in the Israeli regime's chemical weapons programme and the US programme in the field of non-lethal and incapacitating chemical weapons. He stressed that more than two decades on, the concerns raised in this regard remain unanswered and unresolved.

According to Mehr News, the remarks were delivered at the 113th session of the OPCW Executive Council, where Iran's mission in The Hague published portions of Farajvand's speech.