SAEDNEWS: “History must not forget that the chemical clouds which darkened Sardasht’s sky rose from the factories of those European claimants to the mantle of human rights,” Foreign Minister Araqchi said in a message on the 38th anniversary of Iraq's Baath regime's chemical attack on the Iranian city.
According to Saednews, Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi says the Islamic Republic of Iran, as the greatest victim of chemical weapons in contemporary history, has been a staunch advocate of a world free of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs).
Araqchi on Monday issued a message on the anniversary of the chemical bombardment of Sardasht and the National Day of Combat against Chemical and Biological Weapons.
Sardasht, located in Iran’s West Azarbaijan Province, was the first civilian city in the world to be subjected to the war crime of a chemical weapons assault by the Baath regime of toppled Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein on June 28, 1987.
Elsewhere in his message, Araqchi said that the recent war of aggression by Israel, which took place amid silence of Western powers, once again laid bare the oppression endured by the heroic and great nation of Iran.
The full text of the top diplomat's message is as follows:
In the Name of God, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful
Coinciding with the criminal aggression of the Zionist regime and the United States against our country, which has resulted in the martyrdom and injury of a large number of civilians—including women, children, scientists, university professors, and the valiant commanders of our beloved homeland—we commemorate the thirty-eighth anniversary of the horrific war crime of the chemical attack by Saddam’s Ba’athist regime on the oppressed and defenseless city of Sardasht, and we pay tribute to the pure and noble souls of all the martyrs of our nation.
Thirty-eight years have passed since that mournful day—one of the darkest in the annals of the Sacred Defense—when the Ba’athist regime of Iraq, with the direct assistance or full acquiescence of Western countries, including the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, and France, unleashed the ruthless use of chemical weapons upon innocent human beings. The indelible stain of this monstrous crime shall remain etched upon the foreheads of its perpetrators and their enablers for eternity. Sardasht was the first civilian city in the world to be subjected to the war crime of a chemical weapons assault by Saddam’s Ba’athist regime on 28 June 1987. The stench of mustard gas can still be sensed in the nostrils of the city’s inhabitants—a city where children, even before learning the alphabet, recognized the cursed word ‘death’ upon the blistered faces of their mothers. Sardasht became the Hiroshima of the Middle East. History must not forget that the chemical clouds which darkened Sardasht’s sky rose from the factories of those European claimants to the mantle of human rights.
Across the corridors of history, the ancient land of Iran—cradle of civilization and culture, humanity and ethics—has stood tall, its breast filled with the pride and grandeur of a noble nation, bearing witness to wounds and afflictions so profound that their healing remains exceedingly difficult, if not impossible. These agonies were born of the cold and poisoned breath of chemical weapons. The sacred soil of this homeland, in a silence steeped in screams, bears testimony to the anguish etched upon the bodies of thousands of its innocent children. Sardasht, like the proud nation of Iran, is a cypress that bent but did not break. The harrowing chemical assault on Sardasht stands as a symbol of the use of chemical weapons against civilians and residential areas in modern history. The recent savage onslaught by the Zionist regime against residential districts, hospitals, educational centers, and innocent civilians—accompanied by the deadly silence and implicit support of Western powers—once again laid bare the oppression endured by the heroic and great nation of Iran, inscribing a stark indictment upon the pages of history against the hollow claims of those who falsely profess to champion human rights and masquerade as guardians of international law. The resistance of Sardasht is not merely a historical episode; it is a model for all nations that refuse to submit to tyranny.
The atrocity of the chemical bombardment of Sardasht—executed with prohibited weapons and enabled by the direct support of certain global powers in equipping Saddam with chemical armaments, coupled with the silence of international organizations—not only took the lives of hundreds of innocents, but condemned thousands more to a lifetime of unbearable suffering. It was a bitter experience that jolted the conscience of the international community and accelerated the negotiations and eventual finalization of the Chemical Weapons Convention in 1993. That convention is indebted to the peace-loving people of Iran and their cries for justice, especially those of the oppressed people of Sardasht.
Credible evidence and substantiated documentation confirm that certain Western governments—particularly the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany—provided Saddam’s regime with chemical substances, technologies, and the necessary equipment, thereby enabling it to employ chemical weapons against the Iranian people. Such support, along with the repugnant silence of the international community, emboldened the Saddam regime to persist in its atrocities and further violate international law with impunity. Today, the imposition of medicine sanctions and the obstruction of free access to medical equipment required for the treatment of chemical warfare victims—by the United States and other Western countries—constitute a direct continuation and perpetuation of that very same war crime.
In recent days, as the world witnesses the assassination of women and children, ordinary civilians, university professors, nuclear scientists, and senior military and civilian officials of Iran—at the hands of some of the most cunning and malevolent terrorists of our era, based in Tel Aviv—those same Western countries have aligned themselves with the aggressor, offering de facto support for its acts of aggression and its violations of international law and the Charter of the United Nations. Meanwhile, the Zionist regime’s attacks on critical infrastructure in our country, including facilities involved in the production of industrial chemical materials, pose the risk of a grave humanitarian and environmental catastrophe—one that has tragically been met with either silence or tacit and overt support by certain Western powers. In this regard, the Islamic Republic of Iran has formally called for the convening of an emergency session of the Executive Council of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in order to examine and condemn these inhumane attacks against Iran’s critical infrastructure, including its industrial chemical facilities.
The Islamic Republic of Iran, as the greatest victim of chemical weapons in contemporary history, has been a staunch advocate of a world free of weapons of mass destruction and the principal initiator of the initiative for a Middle East free of nuclear weapons. Iran has consistently stood at the forefront of the struggle against such weapons. It has never ceased its pursuit of justice for the victims of chemical warfare and firmly believes that the implementation of justice is a necessary prerequisite for preventing the recurrence of atrocities such as the chemical bombardment of Sardasht. It is my sincere hope that through collective determination and effort, the day will come when no human being shall fall victim to weapons of mass destruction, and that peace and amity shall replace war and violence.
Once again, I pay tribute to the fortitude, perseverance, solidarity, unity, and resilience of the proud Iranian nation in confronting the recent aggression by the Zionist regime and the United States. Alongside all Iranians, I bow in reverence before the armed forces of our country, who delivered a worthy response to the aggressors.
