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Was Ahmadinejad researching new techniques for growing taller? The Iranian President on a visit to Syria. (file)
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| By Israel Insider staff September 18, 2007 |
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Additional proof of cooperation between Iran and Syria in the development and deployment of weapons of mass destruction was revealed Monday in a Jane's Magazine report that dozens of Iranian engineers and 15 Syrian officers were killed in a July 23 accident in Syria.
According to the report, the joint Syrian-Iranian team was attempting to mount a chemical warhead on a scud missile when the explosion occurred, spreading lethal chemical agents, including sarin nerve gas and VX gas.
The factory was created for the purpose of adapting ballistic missiles to carry chemical payloads, Jane's claimed.
Although reports of the accident were circulated at the time, no details were released by the Syrian government, nor was the Iranian connection revealed.
SANA - Syrian news agency -- at the time cited an official information source which stated that "an explosion ripped through an explosives depot in Aleppo, northern Syria, due to the high temperature that ... set off the high explosives materials. 15 soldiers were martyred and 50 were wounded. Most of the wounded were treated from their minor wounds caused by the shattered glass and left the hospital." The source The source added that " the explosion was not the result of sabotage."
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had only praise Monday for Syrian President Bashar Assad Monday. "I have a lot of respect for the Syrian leader and for Syrian policy. They have internal problems, but we have no reason to rule out dialogue with Syria."
Syria is not a signatory of either the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), - an international agreement banning the production, stockpiling or use of chemical weapons, or the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). Syria began developing chemical weapons in 1973, just before the Yom Kippur War. Global Security.org cites the country as having one of the most advanced chemical weapons programs in the Middle East. |
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