Syria chemical weapons program

Syria's chemical weapons program began in the 1970s with weapons and training from Egypt and the Soviet Union, with production of chemical weapons in Syria beginning in the mid-1980s. For some time, Syria was believed to have the world's third-largest stockpile of chemical weapons, after the United States and Russia. Prior to September 2013 Syria had not publicly admitted to possessing chemical weapons, although Western intelligence services believed it to hold one of the world's largest stockpiles.Congressional Research Service, 12 September 2013
Syria's Chemical Weapons: Issues for Congress
In September 2013, French intelligence put the Syrian stockpile at 1,000 tonnes, including Yperite, VX and "several hundred tonnes of sarin". At the time, Syria was one of a handful of states which had not ratified the Chemical Weapons Convention. In September 2013, Syria joined the CWC (formally acceding on 14 October), and agreed to the destruction of its weapons, to be supervised by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), as required by the convention. A joint OPCW-United Nations mission was established to oversee the destruction process. Syria joined OPCW after international condemnation of the August 2013 Ghouta chemical attack, for which Western states held the Syrian government responsible (whilst Syria and Russia held the Syrian rebels of the Syrian civil war responsible) and agreed to the prompt destruction of its chemical weapons, resulting in U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry declaring on 20 July 2014: "we struck a deal where we got 100 percent of the chemical weapons out." The destruction of Syria's chemical weapons that the Assad government had declared was completed by August 2014, yet further disclosures, incomplete documentation, and allegations of withholding part of Syria's chemical weapons stockpile since mean that serious concerns regarding chemical weapons and related sites in Syria remain. On 5 April 2017, the government of Syria allegedly unleashed a chemical attack that killed 70 civilians. A suspected chemical attack on Douma on 9 April 2018 that killed at least 49 civilians has been blamed on the Syrian Government.

Overview

Public stance

Prior to entry into force on 14 October 2013 of Syria's instrument accession, Syria was one of five states that had not signed and seven that had not ratified the Chemical Weapons Convention, which prohibits the development, production, stockpiling, transfer, and use of chemical weapons. However, in 1968, Syria acceded to the 1925 Geneva Protocol for the Prohibition of the Use in War of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or Other Gases. Syria had repeatedly pledged to ratify the CWC if its neighbouring countries, especially Israel, ratify the convention. In the aftermath of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Syria stated that it had no chemical weapons, but stated it possessed such weapons in 2012.Syria says it will use chemical weapons if attacked
Associated Press 23 July 2012 The Syrian president had earlier alluded to a chemical weapon capability in public statements, in 1990 and 1997.

Western non-governmental organisations stated they believed Syria had an active chemical weapons program.Syria Special Weapons Guide
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globalsecurity.org
, accessed 24 October 2007.
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Nuclear Threat Initiative
, accessed 24 October 2007.Syria and WMD Incentives and Capabilities
, Syria Magnus Normark, Anders Lindblad, Anders Norqvist, Björn Sandström, Louise Waldenström, Swedish Defense Research Agency report FOI-R—1290—SE, June 2004, ISSN 1650-1942

In September 2013, Syria provided information about its stockpile to the OPCW as part of its disarmament obligations. However, the exact composition of its declared chemical arsenal will not be disclosed to the public, due to OPCW rules.

Motivation

A number of reasons have been postulated for Syria's adoption of a chemical weapon strategy in the 1980s:

* to act as a deterrent to Israeli use of nuclear weapons against Syria
* to compensate for the loss of Egypt as a military ally after the signing of the Egypt–Israel peace treaty in 1979
* after recognising the limitations of Syrian air power against Israel in the 1982 Lebanon War, Syria adopted an alternative missile strategy, which required a non-high-explosive warhead to compensate for lack of missile accuracy
* to act as a deterrent to its powerful neighbour Turkey in any possible dispute.

Stockpiling and production

According to some US analysts, Syria was provided with some chemical weapons and delivery systems prior to the 1973 Yom Kippur War. According to US intelligence reports, Syria began to develop its chemical weapons capabilities in the later 1970s, with supplies and training from the Soviet Union, and likely with equipment and precursor chemicals from private companies in Western Europe. However Syrian production of chemical weapons is not believed to have begun until the mid-1980s. The Director of the US Defense Intelligence Agency said in 2013 that the Syrian program had never become fully independent, and remained reliant on the importing of precursor chemicals.

In 1988, a U.S. analyst described Syria's chemical weapon capability as more advanced than the Iraqi chemical weapons program; however, Israel stated in 1989 that Syria had only the "potential for chemical warfare, but not more than that". In the meantime, a Syrian chemical weapons scientist, dubbed as "the chemist" who was recruited by the CIA from 1988 until his execution in 2001, reported that there was a lab known as "Institute 3,000" near Damascus to manufacture chemical weapons, as later revealed in Joby Warrick's ''Red Line'' book.

In July 2007, a Syrian arms depot exploded, killing at least 15 Syrians, as well as 10 Iranians. Jane's Defence Weekly, a U.S. magazine reporting on military and corporate affairs, believed that the explosion happened when Iranian and Syrian military personnel attempted to fit a Scud missile with a mustard gas warhead. Syria stated that the blast was accidental and not chemical related.

Capabilities in 2013

A 2007 assessment indicated that Syria was capable of producing several hundred tons of chemical weapon agents per year.Syria Chemical Weapons
a
globalsecurity.org
, accessed 24 October 2007. Another 2007 report said that Syria was believed to have a stockpile of hundreds of tonnes of chemical weapons agents.Syrian Chemical Weapons
observerindia.com, SEPTEMBER 2012 Syria was believed to be able to deliver chemical weapons by aerial bombs, surface-to-surface missiles and artillery rockets.

In September 2013, a French intelligence report put the Syrian stockpile at over 1,000 tonnes, including nerve agents and their precursors. This included several hundred tons of Yperite, several hundred tons of sarin