Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

JNS.org – Syria is holding onto hidden stashes of chemical weapons despite publicly giving away its weapons after international pressure, an Israeli official said Thursday.

Some of the weapons that Syria still possesses are missile warheads, air-dropped bombs, and rocket-propelled grenades loaded with sarin and other toxins, according to Israeli intelligence.

“There is, to my mind, still in the hands of Syria a significant residual capability… that could be used in certain circumstances and could be potentially very serious,” the anonymous Israeli official told Reuters.

This week, international diplomats said Syria revealed an undeclared research laboratory equipped to produce the ricin poison.

The Israeli official gave no indication that there is a current possibility for the Islamic State terror group to obtain such chemical weapons. But the official said, “I would not be surprised if they are interested, though, in receiving them.”