WASHINGTON, Oct 12: The United States said on Friday it had held long-standing concerns about Syria’s nuclear and missile programmes and Russian assistance to them.

State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said comments made on the subject earlier this week by Under Secretary of State for Arms Control John Bolton were in line with past US policy, despite little having been said about it previously.

“It is a matter of public record that the United States is concerned about Russian cooperation with Syria’s nucle and missile programs,” Boucher told reporters when asked why Bolton had mentioned the topic in Congressional testimony.

However, he allowed that Washington had placed greater emphasis on Russia’s cooperation on such projects with Iran, but said the Syrian programmes were also of interest.

“Broader access to the expertise of Russian entities could provide opportunities for Syria to expand its indigenous capabilities, should it decide to pursue nuclear weapons,” Boucher told reporters.

“While Iran’s programmes for weapons of mass destruction are much larger than Syria’s, and we have therefore devoted a great deal of attention to Russian cooperation with Iran’s weapons of mass destruction programs, the more general problem of weapons of mass destruction development and proliferation is an area of key concern for this administration,” he said.

“We are concerned about proliferant states gaining access to Russian technology and expertise, and Syria is a country of concern in this regard,” he said.

Syria is one of seven countries the United States has designated a “state sponsor of terrorism” but US officials have generally not focused on its nascent missile and nuclear programs as an area of concern.—AFP