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Undecided

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

SIGNATURE
DEPOSIT WITH UNSG
ENTRY INTO FORCE
DECLARATION
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
1MSP 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

  • Syria should comply with its existing obligation under Article VI of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) and pursue negotiations in good faith on nuclear disarmament.

  • 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.

  • Syria should conclude and bring into force an Additional Protocol with the IAEA.

  • Syria should also adhere to the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) and ratify the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC).

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