Syria Finds Assad-Era Sarin Components, Transfers Chemical Weapons Remnants for Destruction

Syria announced new progress in removing chemical weapons remnants from the Assad regime era after specialized national teams located munitions, materials used in chemical production, and equipment linked to the former program.

Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shaibani said in a statement posted on the U.S.-based social media platform X that the teams identified munitions and materials used in the manufacturing of sarin gas, as well as mixing and storage equipment connected to the previous regime’s chemical weapons activities.

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He said the materials had been secured and transferred to specialized facilities in preparation for destruction, and that the latest progress came after “long months” of national, intelligence and technical work carried out by Syrian teams.

Syria’s representative to the OPCW said on May 26 that remnants of the former Bashar Assad regime’s chemical weapons program had been seized in Syria, and that some of the seized materials resembled chemical weapons previously used in Eastern Ghouta and Hama.

The Syrian Foreign Ministry said the latest measures were aimed at enhancing both national and regional security while continuing efforts to dismantle remnants of the former regime’s chemical weapons infrastructure.

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons confirmed that dozens of previously undeclared remnants of former Syrian President Bashar Assad’s chemical weapons program have been discovered in the country in the past few weeks.

In its monthly report for May, the OPCW said Syria’s Sunni Islamist government, which ousted Assad in late 2024, had granted inspectors access to “high-priority undeclared locations” since the start of the month.

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The report stated, “Dozens of undeclared chemical munitions such as aerial bombs and rockets … have been found at several of these undeclared locations,” and it described the findings as including raw materials and munitions similar to those used in deadly gas attacks during the Arab Republic’s 2011-2024 civil war.

Mohamad Katoub, Damascus’s permanent representative to the OPCW, told Reuters that Syrian authorities arrested 18 suspects for alleged involvement in the chemical weapons program, including senior military, political and technical officials.

The OPCW said Syria declared chemical weapons were present at 26 locations when Assad’s Syria joined the OPCW in 2013, while the watchdog said it has reason to believe the country harbored an additional 100 sites.

Syria’s new authorities said they were pursuing destruction of the chemical weapons legacy while also seeking accountability, with Asaad al-Shaibani telling the OPCW in The Hague last year that Syria’s new rulers are committed to destroying “any remains of the chemical weapons program developed under the Assad regime—to put an end to this painful legacy.”

The Times of Israël reported that Syria, with the support of Washington, announced a plan to eliminate chemical weapons inherited from the Bashar al-Assad regime, and it said OPCW experts estimated “no fewer than 100 sites in Syria must be inspected.”

It also quoted Ibrahim Olabi explaining, “We have no idea what remains. It was a secret program,” and described a diplomatic source saying the task could take “several months, or even several years.”

In parallel, Syria’s Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shaibani said the operation reflects cooperation between Syria and the OPCW within the framework of the “new Syria” vision, and he said the steps contribute to protecting security and stability and strengthening transparency and international cooperation.

The OPCW-U.N. mission for the destruction of Syria’s chemical weapons arsenal ended in 2014 and was “widely criticized,” while the watchdog has said it has reason to believe Syria harbored an additional 100 sites beyond the 26 declared locations.