Labels of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) are seen iside a damaged house in Douma in Damascus, Syria. Photo: Reuters/ Ali Hashisho.

Marking the anniversaries of two horrific chemical weapons attacks during the Syrian Civil War, the US State Department warned Syrian President Bashar al-Assad against committing similar atrocities in future, while holding Iran and Russia directly responsible for his regime’s continued violence against the Syrian people.

“The [Assad] regime would not be able to continue its campaign of violence against the Syrian people without help from its allies, Russia and Iran,” a statement from the State Department on Friday remarked.

The statement noted that it had been “two years since the horrific chemical weapons attack in Khan Sheikhoun, and almost one year since the attack in Douma, Syria.  These attacks killed over one hundred innocent men, women, and children, and significantly injured hundreds more.”

The statement continued: “The Assad regime perpetrated these attacks to instill fear and confusion.  The regime’s barbaric history of using chemical weapons against its own people cannot and will not be forgotten.” It emphasized that the US “remains determined to hold the Assad regime accountable for these heinous acts.”

The statement ended with a warning to Damascus. “If the Assad regime repeats its use of chemical weapons, it will be met with a swift and appropriate response from the United States and the international community,” it concluded.

Assad’s regime was preserved through eight years of brutal war by a combination of Russian air force support and ground troops provided by Iran and its Lebanese terrorist proxy, Hezbollah. Iran’s main strategic aim in Syria has been to cement a land corridor to the Israeli border, creating a direct frontline with the Jewish state.