Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

Iran has urged the United Nations to condemn the use of chemical weapons in Syria by foreign-backed insurgents.

In a letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Iran's Foreign Minister, Ali Akbar Salehi, called the chemical attack in Syria a serious threat to international peace and security, Iranian media reported.

The letter said the attack clearly violates international legal norms such as the Chemical Weapons Convention.

It reminded all governments of their responsibility to observe the ban on the use of chemical weapons and on providing terrorist groups with such weapons.

It called on governments and international organizations, including the UN, to spare no effort to prevent the recurrence of such crimes.

Iran also asked for UN support for a neutral probe into the attack.

It urged that those who provided Syrian terrorist groups with chemical weapons be brought to justice.

He also urged them to carry out an impartial investigation to find out supporters and sponsors of the inhuman act.

Noting that the crime was committed on the threshold of the third conference to revise regulations relating to the chemical weapons, Salehi emphasized the need for the thorough, effective and indiscriminate implementation of the convention by signatory countries especially the absolute elimination of destructive weapons by their owners.

The letter concluded by stressing that use of chemical weapons by governments and dissident groups under any conditions was unacceptable.

Last week, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he would launch a probe into possible chemical weapons use in Syria, on a request by the government, DPA reported.

Both the regime of President Bashar al-Assad and the opposition have accused each other over an attack against civilians that may have involved chemical weapons.

US President Barack Obama said last Wednesday that Washington would investigate "very thoroughly" the claims and that he was "skeptical" that the rebels were to blame.

Ban said at UN headquarters in New York that "the investigation mission is to look into the specific incident brought to my attention by the Syrian government." "I am, of course, aware that there are other allegations of similar cases involving the reported use of chemical weapons."

He said he had received a formal request from Damascus, which claimed rebel forces had used the weapons and asked for a "specialized, impartial and independent mission to investigate the alleged use of chemical weapons."

He said his senior advisers had begun working on the method and terms to probe the allegation made by Syria, with the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and the World Health Organization taking part.

On the other hand, Russia said it will insist that Russian and Chinese representatives join a United Nations investigation into allegations that chemical weapons were used in Syria last week, Reuters reported.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov said the investigation could only be objective if it is conducted by a "balanced group of international experts".

The group "must without fail include representatives of the five permanent U.N. Security Council members, including Russian and Chinese chemical specialists", he said.

Ban's announcement followed a dispute between Russia and Western council members over the scope of the investigation.

U.S. and European officials say there is no evidence of a chemical weapons attack. If one is confirmed, it would be the first use of such weapons in the two-year-old Syrian conflict, which the United Nations says has cost 70,000 lives.

The chemical attack came after a video footage posted on the internet late in January showed that the armed militants in Syria possessed canisters containing chemical substances.

The foreign-sponsored militants had earlier released footage in which rabbits were killed by inhaling poisonous gas.