CFR Daily News Update 9/16 UN Says Sarin Used in Syria

Top of the Agenda: UN Says Sarin Used in Syria

The UN confirmed that sarin gas was used in an August 21 attack on rebel-controlled territory near Damascus, and the United States and its Western allies suggested that the Assad regime was responsible (WaPo). Russian officials disputed this, pointing to rebels as the source. Outgoing Israeli ambassador to the United States Michael Oren said Israel wanted to see President Bashar al-Assad removed from power, and that the Tehran/Damascus/Beirut axis was the greatest threat to Israel (JerusalemPost). A Turkish fighter jet shot down a Syrian military helicopter after it entered Turkish airspace on Monday, and Ankara said it will submit a report to NATO and the UN Security Council about the incident (al-Jazeera).

Analysis

"With the possibility of widespread sectarian strife emerging from the Syrian conflict, it is absolutely vital that the Saudis and the GCC, as they did in Egypt and Bahrain, quickly move to ensure that the al-Assad regime finally falls. They must do it for themselves, for regional security in containing Iran, to prevent al Qaeda in the Levant from rising and, above all else, for the Syrian people," Nawaf Obaid and Jamal Khashoggi write for CNN.

"The large scale use of sarin, the direction of the rocket attacks, and kind of rockets used in the attacks all point to use by Assad's forces beyond reasonable doubt. The conclusions reached by the United States and European governments would now appear to have received corroboration by a source the Russians and Syrians will have trouble discrediting," write Greg Thielmann and Daryl G. Kimball for Arms Control Now.

"The official line from Tehran remains that there is no evidence that Mr. Assad conducted the recent chemical attack, with speculation that the rebels had been supplied with chemical weapons by the Saudis. This narrative fits with the view, even in moderate policy circles, that Iran is fighting a proxy war with the Saudis for regional hegemony," Ali Ansari writes in the Financial Times.