Iran neither forgets nor forgives perpetrators of Sardasht chemical attack: Iran's FM

Iran will neither forget nor forgive the perpetrators of the 1987 chemical attack on the Iranian city of Sardasht in West Azarbaijan Province, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian states, pointing to the the role of Western governments in supplying chemical agents to former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

In a Wednesday message on the occasion of the 36th anniversary of the chemical attack on Sardasht, the Iranian foreign minister once again drew attention to the active collusion of Western governments in the brutal atrocity by knowingly sending the chemical agents to Iraqi dictator.

“There is valid evidence and undeniable documents about the practical and extensive complicity of some Western countries, especially Germany, Britain, France, the Netherlands and the United States, in committing these crimes by equipping the Saddam regime with chemical weapons and helping it use them against the Iranian people,” Amir-Abdollahian said.

Over 100 people were killed in the Sardasht attack on June 28, 1987, and thousands more were exposed to chemical agents.

After three decades, many of the survivors of the chemical attack still have to live with the long-term respiratory and even psychological effects of inhaling mustard gas used in the attack.

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Amir-Abdollahian also said Western countries that claim to defend human rights have overtly hampered Iran’s legal measures over the last 36 years to secure the rights of the martyrs and survivors of the attack and punish the perpetrators as well as their accomplices.

He added that the Western-backed atrocities against Iran have been committed in clear violation of international law and the United Nations Charter, emphasizing that all the perpetrators must be held accountable for their inhumane acts.

The top Iranian diplomat stressed that the obstacles in the way of pursuing the chemical victims’ rights will neither remove the international responsibility of the relevant states nor will it disrupt Iran’s determination to follow its rights.

He noted that one of the less seen aspects of the use of chemical weapons against Iran was its “widespread use against cities and civilians, especially defenseless women and innocent children,” which killed thousands of people and injured tens of thousands of others, many of whom are still suffering.

The Iranian foreign minister further said the West’s sanctions on medicine and medical equipment required by the victims of chemical attacks are a blatant example of “the most inhumane crimes against humanity.”

Amir-Abdollahian emphasized, however, that the Iranian government is making serious efforts to provide medical services to the victims of chemical attacks despite all the sanctions against the country.

“As the biggest victim of the widespread and systematic use of chemical weapons at the modern period, the Islamic Republic of Iran condemns the use of chemical weapons anywhere by anyone and under any circumstances and once again renews its commitment to the realization of a world free of chemical weapons,” Amir-Abdollahian said.

He also urged the complete destruction of the US chemical weapons and the immediate and unconditional accession of the Israeli regime to the Convention on the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons as well as its effective and non-discriminatory full implementation to achieve its full objectives.

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