Thread by @StateDept

There is no doubt about #Assad regime's pattern of chemical weapons. Since 2014, the OPCW assigned responsibility to Assad for multiple sarin & chlorine attacks.

We've noticed there’s an awful lot of Russian #Propaganda out there, so we thought we’d offer some facts:

FACT: The #Syrian regime used chemical weapons near #Douma on April 7, killed at least 45 people and sickening hundreds more. Our information is consistent and corroborated by multiple sources, from military intelligence to social media users, NGOs to international organizations.

FACT: The joint U.S.-UK-France strikes were a justified, legitimate and proportionate response to the #Syria government's continued use of chemical weapons on its own people.

FACT: The targets we selected were at the heart of the #Syria regime’s illegal chemical weapons program. The strikes were carefully planned. 105 weapons were fired at three distinct military chemical weapons targets, and they successfully hit every one.

FACT: Since 2013, we have given diplomacy a chance, hoping that it would succeed in putting an end to the horror of chemical attacks in #Syria. But as we see from the past year, that did not happen.

FACT: #Russia killed the Joint Investigative Mechanism that sought accountability for chemical weapons use in #Syria & six times vetoed condemnation of Assad's actions. Russia agreed to be the guarantor of chemical weapons removal in Syria but has not lived up to this commitment.

FACT: #Iran has publicly supported the #Syria military for years, providing funding, training, munitions, and even lines of credit. This support has enabled the #Assad regime to wage war against its own people.

FACT: Our #Syria strategy has not changed- we support a focus on the defeat of #ISIS and the #UN-led Geneva process- however, the Syrian regime has forced us to take action based on their repeated use of chemical weapons.

For more facts, see the United States Assessment of the Assad Regime’s Chemical Weapons Use: go.usa.gov/xQja4