The message by the Foreign Minister on the commemoration of the victims of the Sardasht chemical bombing start my words by sending blessings upon th

The message by the Foreign Minister on the commemoration of the victims of the Sardasht chemical bombing

 start my words by sending blessings upon the honorable Prophet of Islam (PBUH) and greetings to the Innocent Imams (AS) and the pure souls of Imam Khomeini and the martyrs of the Islamic Revolution, the Sacred Defense, and the defenders of security and zeal, and on the 36th anniversary of the chemical bombing of Sardasht city, I pay tribute to all the dignified martyrs of the chemical attacks on the country and honor the memory of their sacrifices. I also pray for health and speedy recovery for all those who were physically impaired in the chemical attacks, especially the women.

The history of the Sacred Defense is full of golden pages of the Iranian nation’s heroic defense and victorious resistance against aggression, as well as the effects and injuries left by the atrocities and cowardice of the enemy, among which the wounds and suffering caused by chemical weapons are the most painful and reminiscent of a crime that the awakened human consciences will never forget.

There are valid evidence and undeniable proof of the practical and extensive collaboration 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 deploy them against the Iranian people. For example, chemical weapons production facilities were built in the Iraqi cities of Samarra and Fallujah with the participation of the German Ministry of Defense; the arms were produced with chemical shipments received from America, and deployed against Iranian citizens using France’s offensive hardware.

One of the less noticeable dimensions of the crime of using chemical weapons against Iran was its widespread use against cities and civilians, especially defenseless women and innocent children, which resulted in the martyrdom of thousands of people and the physical impairment of tens of thousands of others, many of whom are still in pain and suffer day and night due to the effects of the chemical weapons.

The bitter irony is that the false advocates of human rights hypocritically placed themselves in the position of the advocates of Iranian women and girls as part a vicious hybrid war against Iran in the Persian year of 1401; a repetitious trick that has been proven to be false by the history of the resort to chemical weapons in Sardasht and its surrounding villages.

Today, we honor the memory of the  thousands of victims of the chemical bombing of Sardasht while, despite the passage of 36 years, the international legal follow-up of the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to fulfill the material and spiritual rights of the martyrs of the chemical attacks and those physically impaired and secure the prosecution and punishment of those who gave the orders, the perpetrators, those who assisted the raids, the agents and supporters of the use of chemical weapons against Iran, including in the Sardasht disaster, has not achieved the desired result due to the blatant attempts to hinder the process by the Western governments who claim to be advocates of human rights.

Nevertheless, I would like to emphasize and clarify that the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran will neither forget nor forgive the perpetrators of these crimes and their accomplices. These crimes have been committed in a clear violation of international law, the United Nations Charter and the 1925 Geneva Protocol on the prohibition of the use of poisonous gases, and they cause international responsibility, and all their agents and commanders must be held accountable for their inhumane actions.

This issue will not be subject to the passage of time, and the obstacles to the process of pursuing the rights of chemical victims will neither remove the international responsibility of the relevant governments nor the individual responsibility of the crimes committed, nor will it create a disruption in our determination to pursue our rights.

One of the aspects of the crimes of the Western countries in this field, which continues to this day, is the embargo on the drugs needed by those impaired by the chemical arms. With this action, they practically rub salt into the wound of our dear compatriots impaired by chemical arms. These sanctions are one of the clear examples of the most inhumane crimes against humanity.

Of course, despite all the restrictions caused by sanctions, the efforts of the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to provide medical services to the distinguished people injured by chemical weapons continue with all seriousness, and even beyond that, our country cooperates with the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in order to transfer the unique and valuable experiences of the Iranian medical community in the treatment of similar patients in other countries. In this regard, this year, the Islamic Republic of Iran will host the international meeting on the medical aspects of aid and protection against the use of chemical weapons for the 11th time.

As the biggest victim of the widespread and systematic use of chemical weapons in the contemporary era, 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. Today the fulfillment of the goals of the Convention on the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons depends, to a large extent, on the complete destruction of American chemical weapons and on the Zionist regime’s immediate and unconditional joining this convention, as well as its effective and non-discriminatory full implementation, especially in the field of developing international cooperation in the use of chemical substances for peaceful purposes.

On the 36th anniversary of the chemical bombing of Sardasht, we once again pay our respects and salute to the pure souls of the dear martyrs, and we bow to the patience and resistance of those injured on that day, as well as the families of those martyrs and veterans. We hope that humanity will reach such maturity that it will never use these inhumane weapons.

Peace be unto you

Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, June 28, 2023