The Nobel Peace Prize was award to Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. The group is responsible for helping to eliminate the Assad regimes stockpiles of Chemical Weapons.
The Assad regime seems to believe they have some claim to the Nobel Peace Prize, an idea that the State Department rejects.
Below is a transcript of the exchange:
Q: And Marie, can we go to the OPCW Nobel Prize winning? The Syrians are taking credit, actually, for this. Do you concur that the fact that they facilitated their work and they made them prominent and they made -- and so --
MS. HARF: The Syrian regime is taking credit for this?
Q: Yeah, the Syrian government is taking credit. They're saying that our cooperation has made this possible. Do you agree?
MS. HARF: No, I don't -- wouldn't put the Syrian regime in any sentence with the word "peace" or the Nobel Peace Prize in any way, shape or form, Said. What we've said, and I think what -- the OPCW and the U.N. have been the ones on the front lines leading this effort to start destroying parts of the program and that will be doing the tough work going forward, obviously in conjunction with a lot of international partners. We've said the Syrian regime has responsibility, that we expect them to comply with those. But the OPCW has, I think, as you saw the secretary say this morning, taken unprecedented steps, worked with unprecedented speed to confront a situation they've quite frankly never confronted in their history.
Q: OK, but you'd certainly agree that they Syrians so far -- so far have been quite cooperative and things have gone very smoothly.
harf: So the Syrian regime thus far has met some of its responsibilities that it is --
Q: They have -- (off mic) --
MS. HARF: -- beholden to under the Security Council resolution.
Q: So they have met only some of their responsibilities and not all their responsibilities --
MS. HARF: Well, they haven't had an opportunity to meet all of their responsibilities, yet. Their full declaration isn't due until October 27th. We've certainly seen progress. The OPCW has had some success up this point, starting to destroy some of the stockpiles.
But let's be clear that the Syrian regime has obligations, it has responsibilities and it must be in compliance with the Security Council resolution. We fully expect them to live up to those responsibilities.