Iran’s Aragchi: Sanctions intensify suffering of chemical weapons survivors
Shafaq News – The Hague
Iran remains the world’s largest victim of chemical weapons since the Second World War, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Tuesday, accusing the international community of enabling the former Iraqi regime to obtain them.
Attending the annual conference of states parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention, Araghchi said Iran is determined to pursue justice for victims of chemical attacks. He reiterated what he described as the responsibility of countries that directly or indirectly supplied Saddam Hussein’s government with chemical agents.
The Iranian top official added that “unlawful and severe” sanctions on Iran — including restrictions on medicine and treatment for veterans injured by chemical weapons — amount to a “double injustice” against survivors and their families. Such sanctions, he noted, “constitute crimes against humanity, and those who impose or enforce them should be held accountable.”
According to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), Iraq’s use of mustard gas and nerve agents against Iranian troops and civilians during the 1980–1988 Iran–Iraq War caused tens of thousands of casualties, many of whom continue to suffer chronic respiratory and skin conditions.
UN investigations in the late 1980s confirmed repeated chemical attacks, most notably in the border regions of Sardasht and the Fao Peninsula. Iran says more than 60,000 survivors still require long-term medical care. The OPCW has repeatedly stated that Iran declared no chemical weapons production or stockpiles after joining the treaty in 1997.
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