Sputnik - The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons turned down a proposal by Moscow and Tehran regarding an investigation of the Idlib chemical incident.





MOSCOW (Sputnik) � The Organisation for�the Prohibition of�Chemical Weapons voted against�the Russian and Iranian proposal on�investigation of�a suspected chemical weapons incident in�Syria�s Idlib, the UK delegation to�the organization said Thursday.


The #OPCW Executive Council has overwhelmingly rejected the Russian and Iranian decision which attempted to�undercut the FFM



��UK Delegation OPCW (@UK_OPCW) 20 ?????? 2017 ?.

On April 4, a chemical weapons incident in�Syria's Idlib province claimed the lives of�some 80 people and inflicted harm on�an additional 200 civilians. The Syrian National Coalition of�Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, as�well as�a number of�Western states, accused the Syrian government troops of�carrying out�the attack, while Damascus refuted these allegations, with�a Syrian army source telling Sputnik that the army did not possess chemical weapons.

The Russian Defense Ministry said on�April 5 that the airstrike near�Khan Shaykhun by�the Syrian air force hit a terrorist warehouse that stored chemical weapons slated for�delivery to�Iraq, and called on�the UN Security Council to�launch a proper investigation into�the incident.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said April 6 that groundless accusations in�the chemical weapons incident in�Syria's Idlib were unacceptable before�the investigation into�the matter had been carried out.

However, the incident was used as�pretext for a US missile strike against�the Ash Sha'irat airbase carried out�late on�April 6. US President Donald Trump characterized the strike as a response to�the alleged use of�chemical weapons by�the Syrian government troops while Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said it was a violation of�the international law. Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei described the US missile strike against�the Syrian airfield as a strategic mistake.

In an exclusive interview with�Fox Business on April 12, US President Donald Trump blamed the current situation in�Syria on�Moscow's support for�country's Assad, calling the Syrian leader "an animal."

Earlier this year, Syrian President Bashar Assad said that the country�s government had never used weapons of�mass destruction, including chemical weapons, against�the Syrian people. Besides, under�a Russian-US deal after�the east Ghouta sarin gas incident in�2013, Damascus joined the Convention on�the Prohibition of�Chemical Weapons and agreed to�destroy its stockpile under�Organization for�the Prohibition of�Chemical Weapons (OPCW) oversight. In January 2016, the OPCW announced that all chemical weapons in�Syria had been destroyed.