Overview

• Syria's new foreign minister, Assad al-Schaibani, announced the country's commitment to destroy all remaining chemical weapons from the Assad era.
• The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has called this a 'historic opportunity' to address unresolved concerns about Syria's chemical weapons program.
• OPCW experts are set to travel to Syria in the coming days to begin the process of verifying and overseeing the destruction of the stockpiles.
• Under international pressure, Syria joined the Chemical Weapons Convention in 2013 but faced allegations of incomplete disclosures and obstruction of inspections for over a decade.
• The Assad regime was previously accused of using chemical weapons in at least 20 instances, including attacks involving sarin, chlorine, and mustard gas.