Iran Raps Accomplices of Saddam for Syria Chemical Attack Allegations
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran’s foreign minister lashed out at the self-proclaimed advocates of human rights for aiding and abetting in the war crimes by Saddam Hussein in the 1987 bombing of Iran’s Sardasht, saying the very same accomplices have now raised allegations of chemical attacks in Syria.
Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif released a message on Saturday on the 30th anniversary of massacre of civilians in Iran's northwestern city of Sardasht in chemical attacks carried out by the Iraqi army under former dictator Saddam Hussein.
In his message, the top Iranian diplomat described the catastrophic incident in Sardasht as a clear proof of “absurdity and idleness” of the human rights claims.
“The great Iranian nation bravely showed resistance during an unequal, unfair and imposed war (waged) by the Saddam’s regime that was benefitting from direct financial, economic, military and logistical supports provided by certain regional countries and trans-regional powers,” Zarif noted.
The minister further took a swipe at the international powers for remaining silent on the massacre of Sardasht civilians in a chemical attack which he slammed as a brazen instance of crimes against humanity and a war crime by Saddam’s Baathist regime.
Zarif then explained that those raising the allegations of use of chemical weapons in Syria under “a suspicious and dangerous scenario” are the very parties that were not only ignoring the employment of weapons of mass destruction and chemical weapons against the Iranian troops and civilians during the war, but also equipped Saddam with arms and were his accomplices in the war crimes.
“Unlike the hypocritical policies and double standards adopted by certain countries claiming to advocate human rights, including the US government, the Islamic Republic of Iran strongly condemns any use or the threat of using weapons of mass destruction, including chemical weapons… in line with its principled policy,” Zarif underlined.
He finally reaffirmed Iran’s resolve to counter the weapons of mass destruction, calling on the international community and world public opinion to fight off the production, proliferation and use of such weapons.
The world should show more sensitivity to the use or the threat of using WMDs by terrorist groups, such as Daesh (ISIL), and by the regional and trans-regional sponsors of those groups, he noted.
The city of Sardasht in Iran's northwestern province of West Azarbaijan is the third city in the world after Japan’s Hiroshima and Nagasaki which became the target of Weapons of Mass Destruction. In June 28 and 29, 1987, Iraqi bombers attacked 4 crowded parts of Sardasht with chemical bombs and engulfed its residents, women and children, young and old, with fatal chemical gases.
The attacks killed 116 citizens and injured over 5,000.
