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OPCW Analyzing 34 Sealed Boxes of Documents Handed Over from Syria

Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Izumi Nakamitsu (File photo)
Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Izumi Nakamitsu (File photo)
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OPCW Analyzing 34 Sealed Boxes of Documents Handed Over from Syria

Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Izumi Nakamitsu (File photo)
Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Izumi Nakamitsu (File photo)

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said the Syrian authorities handed over to the Secretariat team in Damascus 34 sealed cardboard boxes of documents that are being processed and further analyzed.

Briefing the UN Security Council on the implementation of Resolution 2118 on the elimination of Syria’s chemical weapons program, UN Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Izumi Nakamitsu welcomed on Thursday the Syrian government’s continued cooperation with OPCW, which has led to significant progress.

In early May, a team from the Organization went to Syria.

Nakamitsu stressed that the Syrian government has done courageous work to facilitate the OPCW’s work, and “we commend its continued cooperation.”

She said, the team is now ready to report that a “significant amount” of undeclared chemical weapons, related materials, and documentation – including evidence of previously undeclared chemical munitions –were already discovered.

Rockets were also found, of the same type as those that were used in the chemical weapons attack in the Syrian city of Ghouta in August 2013.

“These findings are a momentous discovery – not just for Syria, but for international security and the global disarmament regime,” Nakamitsu said, attributing their discovery to the OPCW’s unflagging efforts, the new Syrian government’s compliance with international law and the Council’s continued advocacy.

“This cooperation will remain critical going forward, as the newly discovered elements now need to be declared and destroyed, under the OPCW Technical Secretariat’s verification,” she said.

For her part, Deputy US Representative to the UN, Ambassador Tammy Bruce, welcomed the return of OPCW teams to Syria and the significant progress made by the Syrian government and the OPCW, including the discovery of previously undeclared chemical materials.

Bruce said affirmed that Syria has showed flexibility and determination to close this file and turn the page on the past, and we call for continued assistance in this step.

Several Council members also praised the progress.

Jennifer MacNaughtan, UK Minister Counsellor at the Security Council said Syria’s significant operational support to the Organization’s deployment in early May allowed access to priority sites, enabling the identification of dozens of chemical munitions such as aerial bombs and rockets.

She said the Assad regime claimed repeatedly that it had no active chemical weapons program after 2014, while this discovery demonstrates unequivocally that this claim was false.

Syria’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ibrahim Olabi said the achievements of the Syrian teams constituted a decisive turning point in the efforts to uncover the Assad’s chemical weapons program and a major step forward in the path to accountability, thus providing an invaluable service to the region and the world by addressing the risks of proliferation and enhancing its security and stability.

While that work is critical and praiseworthy, Olabi nevertheless said the recent progress is bittersweet as it brings back terrible memories of the previous government. “Syria suffered from chemical weapons for more than 12 years,” he said, adding: “Today, it is committed to rid itself of its legacy.”

Also, China’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN affirmed that the chemical weapons file in Syria must be closed in order to direct resources towards reconstruction and development.

France’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Jerome Bonnafont, said that the Assad regime has used chemical weapons against its own people in at least nine confirmed cases, and hoped that the remaining chemical stockpiles will be secured and destroyed as quickly as possible.

“We welcome the Syrian government’s cooperation with the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, and this cooperation opens a new chapter in the country’s history,” Bonnafont added.

Greece’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ioannis Ghikas, said that his country reiterates its full support for the sovereignty, unity, and territorial integrity of Syria. The Syrian people deserve to turn the page on chemical weapons in their modern history, he added.

In a separate development, Syria's permanent delegation to the UN participated on Wednesday in the election of five non-permanent members of the UN Security Council for the 2027–2028 term.

“We extend our warm congratulations to Kyrgyzstan, Austria, Portugal, Zimbabwe and Trinidad and Tobago on their election,” the delegation said in a post on its X account.

“We look forward to working with you in the coming period in support of international peace and security and in furtherance of multilateral cooperation,” it added.

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Arab World

Sadr Hands over Saraya al-Salam to Iraqi Govt as PMF to Be ‘Restructured’

Members of Saraya al-Salam react during a ceremony in the city of Samarra on June 4, 2026, marking their separation from the Sadrist movement and their integration into the Iraqi security forces. (AP)
Members of Saraya al-Salam react during a ceremony in the city of Samarra on June 4, 2026, marking their separation from the Sadrist movement and their integration into the Iraqi security forces. (AP)
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Sadr Hands over Saraya al-Salam to Iraqi Govt as PMF to Be ‘Restructured’

Members of Saraya al-Salam react during a ceremony in the city of Samarra on June 4, 2026, marking their separation from the Sadrist movement and their integration into the Iraqi security forces. (AP)
Members of Saraya al-Salam react during a ceremony in the city of Samarra on June 4, 2026, marking their separation from the Sadrist movement and their integration into the Iraqi security forces. (AP)

The armed wing of influential cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's movement handed over on Thursday its security responsibilities to the Iraqi army in Samarra city.

The Saraya al-Salam are part of the pro-Iran Popular Mobilization Forces and hold security responsibilities in several regions, notably Samarra.

Sadr had announced on May 27 that he was merging the Saraya al-Salam with the state, calling on other PMF factions to follow suit.

Within a week, the Imam Ali Brigades and Asaib Ahl al-Haq factions said they were disengaging with the PMF. Other staunchly pro-Iran factions, the Kataib Hezbollah and Nujaba movement, have refused to disarm and dismantle their armed wings.

Head of Iraq's Security Media Cell Lieutenant General Saad Maan said all Saraya al-Salam fighters are now working under the orders of the prime minister, who is also commander-in-chief of the armed forces.

State media aired footage of the Saraya al-Salam members lowering their faction’s flag at their operations command center at a ceremony attended by a military delegation dispatched by PM Ali al-Zaidi.

Washington has long wanted to curtail Iran's influence in Iraq, but the start of its war with Tehran on February 28 has given it new momentum.

Iran-backed groups in Iraq have launched numerous strikes against US installations in Iraq since the start of the Middle East war at the end of February.

The strikes have been blamed on pro-Iran groups, against whom the US has retaliated, killing dozens of their fighters.

Qais al-Muhammadawi, Deputy Commander of Iraq's Joint Operations Command, speaks during a ceremony marking the start of the process of the Saraya al-Salam handing over its weapons to Iraqi state forces in Samarra, north of Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, June 4, 2026. (AP)

Washington has in turn put pressure on Baghdad to rein in the groups by suspending security assistance and cash transfers of Iraqi oil revenues.

Qais al-Muhammadawi, Deputy Commander of Iraq's Joint Operations Command, told a press conference that the Saraya al-Salam will now be merged with the armed forces.

The faction has been deployed in Samarra since the 2007 al-Askari shrine bombing. It remains to be seen whether they will quit the city for the first time in 19 years.

A military source told Asharq Al-Awsat that the group handed over all of its headquarters to the army and its fighters are now at the command of the armed forces.

Despite these developments, the details of the dismantling of the groups and their disarmament remain vague, said observers. Questions remain over the size of their arsenal and whether they will really turn them over to the government and completely abandon them.

An Iraqi security official said the mechanism for disarmament remains “unclear”, reported AFP.

Local media said an initiative has been proposed for discussion before the ruling pro-Iran Coordination Framework. It includes securing tens of thousands of government jobs in official security institutions for members of the dismantled armed factions.

Members of Saraya al-Salam gather during a ceremony in the city of Samarra on June 4, 2026, marking their separation from the Sadrist movement and their integration into the Iraqi security forces. (AFP)

PMF ‘structuring’

Meanwhile, spokesperson for the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Sabah al-Numan announced that the committee tasked with imposing state monopoly over arms has kicked off its operations.

He said that “faction disengagement from the PMF calls for the restructuring of formations and ensuring the rights of members.”

This was the first time that the issue of structuring of the formations has been brought up since the PMF’s establishment in 2014. The group was initially set up to fight the ISIS extremist group.

Numan explained that “disengagement” entails “administrative frameworks and the restructuring of these formations within the security agencies, guaranteeing the rights of fighters and merging them with military formations.”

The committee will set up mechanisms for merges and the handover of weapons and military equipment to the official security agencies, he added.

The committee is comprised of officials from the defense and interior ministries, Joint Operations Command and PMF.

What’s next?

Qais al-Khazali's Asaib Ahl al-Haq is expected to follow in Sadr’s footsteps and handover its weapons.

The group, which the US designates a terrorist organization, also forms an important parliamentary bloc with 27 seats. Having refocused on politics, it has distanced itself from Iran and has not taken part in the current war.

A source close to the group said “being part of the government is more important that fighting. So we want to offer the US reassurances.”

The Imam Ali Brigades said it will form a committee to follow up on the disarmament and handover of weapons under the PM’s supervision.

The group has effectively put its administrative control in Zaidi’s hands, said a source close to the factions.

Washington's special envoy for Iraq and Syria, Tom Barrack, has called the disarmament efforts a "significant step forward, which represents the nascent foundation for a renewed Iraqi self-governance". He welcomed the "principled decision" of those groups that are choosing to integrate.

Arab World

Hezbollah Rejects Latest Ceasefire Agreement as Israeli Strikes Kill 4 in Lebanon

A photograph taken from the southern area of Nabatieh shows smoke rising from the site of an Israeli airstrike in the village of Kfar Tibnit on June 4, 2026. (Photo by Abbas Fakih / AFP)
A photograph taken from the southern area of Nabatieh shows smoke rising from the site of an Israeli airstrike in the village of Kfar Tibnit on June 4, 2026. (Photo by Abbas Fakih / AFP)
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Hezbollah Rejects Latest Ceasefire Agreement as Israeli Strikes Kill 4 in Lebanon

A photograph taken from the southern area of Nabatieh shows smoke rising from the site of an Israeli airstrike in the village of Kfar Tibnit on June 4, 2026. (Photo by Abbas Fakih / AFP)
A photograph taken from the southern area of Nabatieh shows smoke rising from the site of an Israeli airstrike in the village of Kfar Tibnit on June 4, 2026. (Photo by Abbas Fakih / AFP)

Hezbollah on Thursday rejected the latest ceasefire agreement between Israel and the Lebanese government, and the militant group demanded a complete Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon as more fighting there hampered efforts to end the Iran war.

The Hezbollah announcement came as Israeli strikes killed at least four people, according to local authorities, and a UN peacekeeper was killed in the crossfire. An Israeli soldier was also killed in combat in southern Lebanon, The Associated Press said.

Hezbollah leader Naim Kassem, in a written statement read on TV, called the negotiations “absurd, humiliating and insulting.” He said the agreement’s demand that Hezbollah fighters leave southern Lebanon under fire would mean “surrender, defeat and achieving the enemy’s goals.”

“What we are concerned about is an end to the aggression, ceasefire and Israel’s withdrawal,” he said, underscoring that Hezbollah has not made any commitment to stop fighting. “So long as our villages are not safe and are being bombed and destroyed and our people are killed," he said, northern Israel “will not be safe.”

Sirens sound after Netanyahu visit

Following Kassem’s statement, drone alert sirens sounded in several border communities in northern Israel, including Shlomi, a town where Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and several ministers had been meeting with local officials, his office said. Israeli media reported that Netanyahu left a short time before the alerts sounded.

The Israeli military later said the sirens were triggered by attempts to intercept several drones that hit near soldiers in southern Lebanon. No injuries were reported.

Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, the Israeli military’s chief of staff, acknowledged Thursday that the ongoing war was straining northern Israeli towns living under the threat of Hezbollah fire. He said Israel’s operations in Iran and Lebanon had “created a new security reality,” by weakening Iran and Hezbollah “to an unprecedented degree.”

Lebanese troops began moving Thursday afternoon into the southern village of Dibbine, in coordination with UN peacekeepers, after Israeli forces left the area, which saw intense clashes in recent days, state-run media reported. It was the first time Israeli troops withdrew from an area in southern Lebanon since the latest Israel-Hezbollah war began about three months ago.

The fighting in Lebanon, where Israeli forces have seized large swaths of the south, threatens efforts to end the Iran war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a key transit point for oil and gas. Its closure has jolted the world economy.

Iran has demanded that any lasting truce extend to Lebanon. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who faces elections later this year, wants to press ahead with Israel’s offensive until Hezbollah no longer poses a threat.

US President Donald Trump, who faced a rare rebuke from Congress on Wednesday, has sought to downplay the diplomatic deadlock and the failure of declared ceasefires to end the fighting. He told reporters that in the Middle East, "a ceasefire is when you’re shooting in a more moderate manner.”

Serbian peacekeeper and Israeli soldier killed

A Serbian peacekeeper was killed and two others were wounded when a mortar struck their location near Marjayoun, a Christian-majority town that has seen intense fighting, according to the UN mission in southern Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, and the Serbian Defense Ministry.

Israel blamed Hezbollah for the firing that killed the UN peacekeeper, without offering evidence. Hezbollah and the UN did not immediately comment on who launched the shells.

Also Thursday, the Israeli military announced that a 21-year-old captain in the armored corps was killed in southern Lebanon.

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said a drone strike killed a motorcyclist and wounded four people in the village of Maaroub. The Israeli military said soldiers killed an armed militant and later found a Hezbollah cache of guns, grenades, surface-to-air missiles and other combat gear in the area.

The military also said it conducted strikes near the coastal city of Tyre and around Shaqra, another community in southern Lebanon.

The Lebanese news agency reported airstrikes in the south and said a strike on the village of Sohmor in the Bekaa Valley, in eastern Lebanon, killed three people and wounded others.

Israel has warned people not to go into parts of southern Lebanon where it says it is striking Hezbollah facilities.

Fighting has raged despite declared ceasefires

Hezbollah resumed rocket fire days after Israel and the United States launched their surprise Feb. 28 attack on Iran, which backs Hezbollah. Before then, Israel had regularly carried out strikes in Lebanon against what it said were militant targets, often killing civilians, despite an earlier truce reached in 2024.

After Hezbollah's rocket and drone attacks resumed, Israeli troops seized around a fifth of Lebanon, pushing further into the country's south than at any time since the end of Israel’s 1982-2000 occupation.

In the southern city of Sidon, residents reacted to Wednesday's ceasefire announcement with skepticism, saying previous agreements had failed to stop the violence.

“Every few days a ceasefire is announced, but people keep getting killed,” said Mayada Hijazi.

“It’s all talk and no action,” said Salah Nassab. “We keep going back to our homes, and then we get displaced again, back and forth. We’re very tired."

More than 3,500 people have been killed in Lebanon, and over 1.2 million have been displaced. The fighting has killed at least 28 Israeli soldiers and three civilians.

Latest ceasefire came from ongoing Israeli-Lebanese talks

The latest declared ceasefire came about through US-brokered talks between Israel and Lebanon's government, which accuses Hezbollah of dragging the country into war and had made efforts to disarm it before the latest hostilities.

The ceasefire agreement calls for Lebanon's armed forces to take control of security zones in Lebanon from which the militants would be banned.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun on Thursday called the new agreement "the last chance to enter a final and comprehensive ceasefire.” He said Lebanon was ready to implement the deal once he receives responses from relevant factions in Lebanon, including Hezbollah. The United States — and Trump himself — would determine how and when the deal is implemented, Aoun told journalists.

The agreement terms Hezbollah “an enemy" of Israel, the US and Lebanon and calls for dismantling it. The government has promised to do so in the past but does not have the capabilities to disarm Hezbollah by force.

The latest agreement did not say when Israel would withdraw from southern Lebanon but said the US would support the Lebanese army as it works to assert control in areas where Hezbollah has long wielded power.

Arab World

Iraq on Verge of Restructuring Popular Mobilization Forces

Members of Saraya al-Salam attend a ceremony in Samarra on June 4, 2026, marking their integration into Iraq’s security forces. (AFP)
Members of Saraya al-Salam attend a ceremony in Samarra on June 4, 2026, marking their integration into Iraq’s security forces. (AFP)
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Iraq on Verge of Restructuring Popular Mobilization Forces

Members of Saraya al-Salam attend a ceremony in Samarra on June 4, 2026, marking their integration into Iraq’s security forces. (AFP)
Members of Saraya al-Salam attend a ceremony in Samarra on June 4, 2026, marking their integration into Iraq’s security forces. (AFP)

The military wing loyal to Sadrist movement leader Moqtada al-Sadr handed over responsibility for security in Samarra to the Iraqi army on Thursday, in a symbolic ceremony that included lowering the faction’s flag at its operations headquarters.

The move, seen by observers as a “qualitative shift,” coincided with an announcement by the spokesman for Iraq’s armed forces that work had begun to restructure formations of the Popular Mobilization Forces and guarantee the rights of their members.

Saad Maan, head of the Security Media Cell, said all Saraya al-Salam fighters affiliated with Sadr were now under the command of the prime minister, the commander-in-chief of the armed forces.

Footage aired by state television showed Saraya al-Salam members lowering their faction’s flag outside the operations headquarters, in the presence of a military committee sent by Prime Minister Ali al-Zaydi.

Saraya al-Salam is part of the Popular Mobilization Forces through brigades 313, 314, and 315. It carries out security duties in several areas, most notably Samarra.

Sadr announced on May 27 that he was merging his military wing, Saraya al-Salam, into the state, and called on Popular Mobilization Forces factions to hand over their weapons.

Within a week, Asaib Ahl al-Haq and Kataib al-Imam Ali also announced their separation from the Popular Mobilization Forces. Kataib Hezbollah and Harakat al-Nujaba, however, have continued to reject demands to disarm and dismantle the factions.

Saraya under the commander’s authority

After the handover ceremony, Deputy Commander of Joint Operations Qais al-Mohammedawi said at a news conference that merging Saraya al-Salam meant placing it under the commander-in-chief of the armed forces.

He said, “A committee had been formed by government order to relink and redistribute armed formations so they move away from any other political title or formation.”

Saraya al-Salam brigades have been stationed in Samarra since the bombing of the Imam al-Askari shrine in June 2007. It remains unclear whether its members will leave the city for the first time in 19 years. But a military source told Asharq Al-Awsat the faction had handed over all its headquarters to the army, while its fighters now answer to the commander in chief of the armed forces.

Still, observers say the details of dismantling and disarmament remain unclear. Questions persist about the types and quantities of weapons held by the factions, whether they will hand them over to government authorities, and whether they will give them up entirely.

An Iraqi security official said the mechanism for placing all weapons under state control “remains unclear,” according to AFP. Local media, however, circulated claims that the Coordination Framework had put forward an initiative for discussion.

The proposal reportedly includes “securing tens of thousands of government jobs in official security institutions for individuals whose armed factions agreed to disengage.”

Restructuring the Popular Mobilization Forces

In a notable development, Sabah al-Numan, the spokesman for the commander in chief of the armed forces, said the committee formed at the commander in chief's direction had begun work to place all weapons under state control.

He said disengagement from the Popular Mobilization Forces included restructuring its formations and guaranteeing the rights of its members.

It is the first official reference to “restructuring the formations of the Popular Mobilization Forces” since the force was established in 2014 to fight ISIS.

Numan said the term “disengagement” involved administrative frameworks and restructuring these formations within the security services, while guaranteeing fighters’ rights and integrating them into military formations.

“The committee has been formed and has begun its work,” he said. “It will set the mechanisms for merging and incorporating the relevant formations, and for handing over weapons, equipment and camps to the Iraqi security authorities.”

Numan said “all weapons and all equipment” would be handed over to the central committee and Iraqi security authorities. A full inventory, he added, would be submitted within two days to the central committee, which is under the direct supervision, direction and follow-up of the commander in chief of the armed forces.

The committee includes several bodies, including the Defense Ministry, the Interior Ministry, the Joint Operations Command and the Popular Mobilization Forces Commission.

The Coordination Framework authorized Prime Minister and Commander in Chief Ali al-Zaydi to take the decisions and measures needed to protect the country’s higher interests.

It also backed “restricting weapons to the state and disengaging the Popular Mobilization Forces Commission from political, partisan and social frameworks.”

What comes next?

Asaib Ahl al-Haq, led by Qais al-Khazali, is expected to take a step similar to that of the Sadrist movement after agreeing with the prime minister to form a committee to separate from the Popular Mobilization Forces.

Khazali is under US sanctions and is one of the leaders of the Coordination Framework, which holds the largest parliamentary bloc. His political influence grew after his group won 27 seats in the latest parliamentary elections.

A source close to Asaib said the group “currently considers political work and presence in government more important than fighting. Therefore, it wants to give assurances to the United States.”

Kataib al-Imam Ali also said it would form a committee to “follow up the inventory, handover and transfer process under Zaydi’s supervision,” and another to “follow up the affairs of individuals and members and reintegrate them into state institutions.”

In practice, that means “all decisions related to their brigades within the Popular Mobilization Forces” will come under Zaydi’s authority “administratively,” according to a source close to the factions.

US special envoy to Syria and Iraq Tom Barrack welcomed a step that “will contribute to building order” and praised the initiative of Prime Minister Ali al-Zaydi, who, after taking office last month, pledged to restrict weapons to the state.

The move comes as Washington gains political and economic ground in Iraq, while Tehran’s regional influence has declined since the outbreak of the war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, which is backed by Tehran, in 2023, followed by Israel’s first war against Iran in 2025, and then the second war launched by the United States and Israel in February, whose repercussions reached Iraq.

Disarmament plan

Asharq Al-Awsat revealed on May 9, 2026, that an Iraqi committee, including Prime Minister-designate Ali al-Zaydi, was working to complete an “executive project” to disarm armed factions before presenting it to Washington, amid mounting US pressure to keep militias away from the new government and key state institutions.

The committee had presented militia leaders with “ideas on how to disarm,” but some meetings “did not pass calmly,” according to informed sources.

The plan includes removing heavy and medium weapons and restructuring the Popular Mobilization Forces, alongside expected changes in sensitive security agencies, possibly including the intelligence service.

Political sources, however, questioned the government’s ability to implement the project, saying it may be aimed at “buying time.”