ALWAGHT- Iran’s Acting Foreign Minister, Ali Bagheri Kani, stated that the Islamic Republic has consistently advocated for the elimination of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) and is currently one of the most active countries working towards a world free of chemical weapons.
Bagheri Kani made these remarks on Monday during a ceremony in Tehran to mark the National Day against Chemical and Biological Weapons. The event also commemorated the anniversary of a chemical attack on the Iranian city of Sardasht, where at least 110 people were killed and 8,000 others injured by the regime of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein on June 28, 1987.
"The Islamic Republic of Iran has never used inhumane weapons. Instead, it has consistently supported the elimination of WMDs and is now regarded as one of the most active and effective countries working towards a world free of chemical weapons," the diplomat stated.
He also addressed the Sardasht attack and other chemical assaults by the Saddam regime during its 8-year war with Iran, highlighting the military and political support Saddam received from Western countries, particularly the US.
"The crime in Sardasht was the most shocking committed by the Saddam regime, which used chemical weapons 500 times across five western Iranian provinces by the end of the war in 1988," he said.
Citing UN documents and Western intelligence reports, Bagheri Kani noted that Western countries played a major role in supplying Saddam with the chemical weapons used against the Iranian people. He added that the West also diplomatically supported Saddam by preventing the UN Security Council from passing any resolutions against the former Iraqi Baath regime.
The Iranian diplomat pointed out that these same countries now prevent Iran from importing the medicines needed by victims of those chemical attacks, referring to Western-imposed sanctions on Iran’s financial sector, which discourage companies from doing business with Tehran.
Bagheri Kani further noted that these countries are also supporting war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by the Zionist regime against Palestinians in Gaza.
