Russia and Iran would have to play a role in dismantling the chemical arms stockpiled by the regime of
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneckal-Assad
The Scourge of Hama...
in a process that would take years, said experts from the London-based think-tank.
"There has never been a situation where the international community has attempted to secure, seize and destroy weapons of mass destruction during an ongoing conflict," IISS proliferation expert Mark Fitzpatrick told a news conference at the launch of the group's annual review of world affairs.
"The best case was in Iraq and even there it took many months to assemble teams and years to destroy the arsenal. In Libya, it has been many years and still not all the mustard gas has been destroyed," he said.
"So obviously it's immensely difficult. The U.S. Department of Defense has estimated that 75,000 troops would be required to secure the chemical weapons" in Syria.