70+ Undeclared Chemical Weapons

The OPCW recently confirmed that inspectors, working with Syrian authorities at high-priority undeclared locations in the northern coastal and central regions, found more than 70 previously undeclared rockets and aerial bombs along with the raw ingredients for sarin production. Also discovered was hexamine, a chemical stabilization agent used by Assad-era forces in sarin weapons. Syrian authorities have arrested 18 people in connection with the Assad-era chemical weapons program, including high-level military, political, and technical officials. The OPCW team was deployed in May to verify the accuracy and completeness of Syria's declared stockpile. These findings confirm what arms control analysts have assessed since the fall of the Assad regime: Syria's official declaration of its chemical weapons stockpile was systematically incomplete, and significant undeclared stockpiles remained dispersed at locations outside the formal declaration.