Rouhani welcomes Russia’s plan to control Syrian chemical weapons

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani underlined that Russia’s plan to place the Syrian chemical weapons under international control is harbinger of hope to avoid a new war in the region. “Moscow’s initiative to resolve the Syrian crisis and the steps the Russian government has taken in this regard have created hopes that a new war could be prevented,” Rouhani said  in a meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in the Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek  on Friday. Earlier this week, Russia handed the United States a plan for the Syrian government to hand over its chemical weapons in four stages, starting with Damascus becoming a member of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. As a first step, Damascus would join the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), Russia’s Kommersant said on Thursday, quoting a Russian diplomatic source. Then Syria would have to declare the location of the chemical weapons arsenals and where they are made. The third step would be allowing OPCW inspectors into Syria to examine them. The final step would be deciding, in cooperation with the inspectors, how to destroy the weapons. Kommersant, which is known for its strong foreign ministry sources, said that who would physically destroy the weapons has yet to be decided but it was not excluded that the United States and Russia could do this jointly. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US counterpart John Kerry are due to discuss the plan in Geneva in talks Thursday. Kommersant said that it was the American side who requested the talks after receiving a copy of the details of the Russian plan.