Moscow was deeply concerned by reports terrorists in Iraq might be producing chemical weapons, Russian Foreign Ministry said Tuesday.

"The reports coming from Baghdad confirm the ever-rising urgency to execute maximum vigilance over the terrorists' attempts in Syria and Iraq to stage provocations using chemical materials with no reservations on possible civilian casualties," the ministry's Press and Information Department said in a statement.

"We support the decisive measures of Iraqi authorities aimed against chemical weapons proliferation, al-Qaida activities and its subordinate groups," it said.

In order to efficiently counter these threats, it said, wide international cooperation and coordination was needed.

On June 1, the Iraqi Defense Ministry said it had discovered three al-Qaida-run workshops where the chemical weapons had been produced.

The group built two facilities in Baghdad and a third one in an undisclosed province to produce sarin and mustard gas for making chemical weapons, Iraqi Defense Ministry spokesman Mohammed al-Askari said.

According to Iraqi authorities, the chemical materials could be used by terrorists in Iraq and Syria, as well as in the United States and Europe. Endi

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