Syrian Arab Republic
Syria participated in the TPNW negotiations in 2017, but did not cast a vote on the adoption of the Treaty. It has also never cast a vote on the annual UN General Assembly resolutions on the TPNW. Syria maintains policies and practices that are compliant with all of the prohibitions in Article 1 of the TPNW, and can therefore sign and ratify or accede to the Treaty without the need for a change in conduct.
TPNW Status
| TPNW Article 1(1) prohibitions: Compatibility in 2023 | ||
|---|---|---|
| (a) | Develop, produce, manufacture, acquire | Compatible |
| Test | Compatible | |
| Possess or stockpile | Compatible | |
| (b) | Transfer | Compatible |
| (c) | Receive transfer or control | Compatible |
| (d) | Use | Compatible |
| Threaten to use | Compatible | |
| (e) | Assist, encourage or induce | Compatible |
| (f) | Seek or receive assistance | Compatible |
| (g) | Allow stationing, installation, deployment | Compatible |
| TPNW voting and participation | |
|---|---|
| UNGA resolution on TPNW (latest vote) | Never voted |
| Participated in 2MSP (2023) | No |
| 2MSP delegation size (% women) | N/A |
| Adoption of TPNW (7 July 2017) | Did not vote |
| Participated in TPNW negotiations (2017) | Yes |
| Negotiation mandate (A/RES/71/258) | Did not vote |
| Other weapons of mass destruction (WMD) treaties | |
|---|---|
| Party to an NWFZ | No |
| Party to the NPT | Yes (Ratified 1969) |
| Ratified the CTBT | No |
| Party to the BWC | No (Signed 1972) |
| Party to the CWC | Yes (Acceded 2013) |
| IAEA safeguards and fissile material | |
|---|---|
| Safeguards agreement | Yes (18 May 1992) |
| TPNW Art 3(2) deadline | N/A |
| Small Quantities Protocol | No (Terminated) |
| Additional Protocol | No |
| Enrichment facilities/reprocessing plants | No |
| HEU stocks | At least 1 kg |
| Plutonium stocks | No |
Latest developments
At the NPT Preparatory Committee meeting in August 2023, Syria called for progress towards achieving complete and comprehensive nuclear disarmament. ‘The possession of nuclear weapons by nuclear-weapon States, according to the text of the NPT, is a temporary situation and may not become a permanent situation,’ it said.1
In the First Committee of the UN General Assembly in October 2023, Syria said that it ‘remains firmly convinced that the elimination of nuclear weapons is the only guarantee against their use or threat of use’. It criticised ‘the Israeli occupation entity’ for continuing to ‘possess and expand its arsenal of all types of weapons of mass destruction’, including nuclear weapons. ‘The main obstacle to the establishment of a zone free of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East is Israel’s intransigence, with the cover and encouragement of the United States and its allies,’ it argued.2
Recommendations
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Syria should comply with its existing obligation under Article VI of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) and pursue negotiations in good faith on nuclear disarmament.
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Syria should urgently adhere to the TPNW. Until it is in a position to do so, it should welcome the TPNW as a valuable component in the global disarmament and non-proliferation architecture, work with the Treaty's states parties on practical steps towards disarmament, and attend the meetings of states parties as an observer.
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Syria should conclude and bring into force an Additional Protocol with the IAEA.
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Syria should also adhere to the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) and ratify the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC).