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The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) announced Thursday that it has restored Syria's full membership rights, citing a "fundamental change in circumstances" since the ouster of Bashar al-Assad and "concrete measures" taken to dismantle the prohibited materials arsenal. Damascus welcomed the decision.

In 2021, the OPCW, based in The Hague, took an unprecedented decision to strip Syria of its voting rights after concluding that the Syrian air force had used sarin and chlorine gas against civilians.

But since Assad's ouster in late 2024, the new authorities in Damascus have pledged to cooperate with the OPCW to destroy the chemical weapons that the former regime had long been accused of using during the thirteen-year war.

The OPCW said in a statement that "the new Syrian government has committed to fulfilling Syria's obligations under the (Chemical Weapons Convention) and has since taken concrete measures to cooperate towards this end."

OPCW Director-General Fernando Arias said the decision "represents another important step in the Organization's efforts to achieve the complete and verifiable elimination of all remaining chemical weapons associated with the former Syrian government."

The Syrian Foreign Ministry welcomed the decision in a statement, saying it "today reflects the international community's confidence in the transformation that Syria has undergone and in the efforts of its institutions to implement their commitments."

The ministry affirmed its "commitment to continuing full and transparent cooperation with the OPCW," and expressed appreciation to countries that supported the decision, especially Qatar, "for its diplomatic efforts that contributed to reaching consensus."

Syria joined the OPCW in 2013 and agreed to disclose and hand over its stockpiles of toxic materials for destruction under pressure from Russia and the United States, and to avert threats of airstrikes by Washington and its allies.

That came after a chemical attack in the Eastern Ghouta area of Damascus, which killed more than 1,000 people according to U.S. intelligence. The attack was blamed on the Syrian regime, which denied any involvement and accused the opposition of carrying it out.

But the Assad regime did not disclose its full chemical weapons stockpile to the OPCW and attempted to mislead inspectors.

The new government has authorized OPCW inspectors to establish a permanent presence in Syria to document sites suspected of containing chemical weapons and interview eyewitnesses of past attacks.

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