When Iraqi warplanes targeted Sardasht, an Iranian city in the northwestern province of West Azarbaijan, on June 28, 1987, with chemical weapons, over 100 citizens were killed.
Thousands were also injured in the tragic incident that took place near Iraq's border.
The city is considered the third in the world to be hit by Weapons of Mass Destruction after Japan’s Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Supporting Saddam Hussein during the eight-year war against Iran and the subsequent silence regarding this atrocity stain the reputation of the West, the global community, and Iraq’s Baath regime.
Following the bombardment, the people of Sardasht, unaware of the chemical threats, rushed to aid the injured, inadvertently causing more casualties due to the polluted air from the bombs.
Amidst a city and country entrenched in war, the transportation of the wounded to other cities was slow, resulting in lasting chemical effects on their bodies and souls.
Those harmed by the chemical assaults continue to endure immense pain.
After three decades, many of the survivors of the chemical attack still must live with the long-term respiratory and even psychological effects of inhaling mustard gas used in the attack.
Fernando Arias, the director general of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) urged the international community to renew its commitment to the lasting eradication of chemical weapons on the 36th anniversary of the Sardasht chemical attack, calling on countries to work to ensure such tragedies are a thing of the past.
Sardasht is still suffering from the consequences of those chemical attacks, The Leader of the Islamic Revolution has said.
Suburban areas of Sardasht continue to suffer from chemical exposure, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has added.
"Westerners claiming human rights have the darkest record of human rights abuses in the world," said Ali Bagheri Kani in his meeting with the Japanese Ambassador to Tehran Aikawa Kazutoshi on Apr. 24, 2021.
Stating that the two nations of Iran and Japan are the biggest victims of weapons of mass destruction in the twentieth century, he added, "Hiroshima and Sardasht are clear symbols of American and European crimes against humanity, and therefore Iran and Japan are the most deserving countries to fight against weapons of mass destruction and defend the victims of these weapons."
During Iraq’s eight-year imposed war, 230,000 Iranian lives were lost, nearly 600,000 people were left disabled, approximately 43,000 Iranians were taken captive by Iraqi forces, and thousands more remain missing.
Reported by Tohid Mahmoudpour
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