The hague: Syria has reinstated its permanent mission to the chemical weapons watchdog in The Hague. The Foreign Ministry has reactivated the permanent mission to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and appointed Mohammed Katoub as Syria's ambassador to the organization, as reported by the Syrian news agency Sana.

According to Anadolu Agency, earlier this month, the ministry noted that the First Committee of the UN General Assembly passed a resolution emphasizing a phase of positive cooperation between Syria and the OPCW. On March 5, Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani participated in a meeting of the OPCW Executive Council for the first time.

Following the start of Syria's uprising in 2011, the forces of President Bashar Assad, who was ousted last year, carried out 217 chemical attacks, as recorded by the Syrian Network for Human Rights. These attacks include the major chemical incident on August 21, 2013, in Eastern Ghouta and Muadhamiyat al-Sham, which resulted in over 1,400 civilian fatalities and more than 10,000 injuries.

Syria joined the OPCW on September 13, leading to the UN Security Council's passage of Resolution 2118 regarding Syria's chemical weapons. Subsequently, the OPCW and the UN formed a joint mission to inspect and destroy chemical weapons in Syria, completing the mission on August 19, 2014. However, it was later revealed that only the weapons at declared sites were destroyed, with regime forces continuing chlorine and sarin attacks in various cities, notably Aleppo.

In April 2021, state parties to the OPCW voted to suspend some of Syria's membership rights. This decision followed the organization's confirmation of chemical weapon use in Latamneh in 2017 and Saraqib in 2018.