WASHINGTON, 30 April 2022, (TON): Antony Blinken, Secretary of State said “today marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of the entry into force of the Chemical Weapons Convention.”

For a quarter of a century, the United States has worked with its Allies and partners to help rid the world of chemical weapons and deter their use by anyone, anywhere, and under any circumstances. Our collective goal is to exclude completely the possibility of the use of chemical weapons, which are abhorrent tools of war.

On this anniversary, we renew our commitment to upholding the CWC and note the Convention’s important role in contributing to U.S. national security. Unfortunately, this anniversary reminds us that the world continues to be threatened by the specter of these weapons.

In recent years, the world has witnessed chemical weapons use that challenges the CWC’s core prohibitions by the Assad regime and ISIS in Syria, by Russian government operatives against the Skripals in the UK and Aleksey Navalny in Russia, and by the DPRK against Kim Jong Nam in Malaysia.

Syria remains in noncompliance with the CWC, and we will continue to work to hold the Assad regime accountable for its repeated use of chemical weapons against its own people.