Al-Mikdad: Western countries blatantly ignore Israel’s possession of nuclear capabilities

Damascus, (ST) – Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Faisal Al-Mikdad affirmed that the West’s words don’t match its actions, as it doesn’t respect its regional and international obligations through its insistence on adopting a certain approach that aims at continuing its hegemony and military superiority at the expense of the security, stability, and existence of other countries and peoples.

In a video statement before the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, Al-Mikkad said that the conference is an exceptional opportunity for member states to renew their commitment in the areas of disarmament and arms control, especially in the nuclear field, to spare humanity the scourge of war.

Al-Mikdad added: “The barbaric Israeli aggression against the defenseless and besieged Palestinian people in Gaza Strip would not have continued for the fifth month had it not been for the support of the United States and its affiliated countries for the occupation and providing political cover for it.”

He stressed that Western countries blatantly ignore Israel’s possession of nuclear capabilities outside the framework of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and the Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement, and are silent regarding the statements of their officials about the possibility of using a nuclear bomb against the Palestinian people in Gaza.

Al-Mikdad stated that Syria’s experience with the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons revealed the dangerous polarization taking place there and the dominance of Western countries over the work of its technical secretariat to target Syria by establishing mechanisms outside the mandate of the agreement that lack the minimum standards of neutrality and professionalism.

Al-Mikdad continued: “the West’s behavior doubled the danger of chemical terrorism and encouraged terrorist organizations to possess, develop, and use chemical weapons against Syrian civilians and the Syrian Arab Army, which the West responded by ignoring, adopting the terrorists’ narrative, and using it as a pretext for military aggression against Syria.”

Al-Mikdad indicated that Syria calls for supporting Russia’s initiative in the Conference on Disarmament to draft an international agreement to suppress chemical and biological terrorism because preventing terrorist organizations from using weapons of mass destruction has become a necessity to ensure international security.

He stressed that Syria will work alongside member states who are serious in their endeavor to activate the role of the Conference on Disarmament, especially the Nuclear Disarmament Conference being the only multilateral international negotiating forum concerned with disarmament, particularly nuclear weapons disarmament. Syria also expresses its hope that there will be a sincere political will to implement the Conference’s mandate and respect its rules of procedures and principles, particularly equality in sovereignty.

Raghda Sawas