Iran Biggest Victim of Chemical Weapons: Envoy
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Describing Iran as the biggest victim of systematic use of chemical weapons, a deputy foreign minister said the Islamic Republic will neither forgive nor forget those who perpetrated and supported this crime.
Addressing the 27th Conference of States Parties (CSP-27) Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in The Hague on Monday, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs Reza Najafi said those German and American companies that have provided former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein with the chemical weapons during its 1980s imposed war are complicit in these crimes and must be brought to justice.
"As the biggest victim of chemical weapons in the contemporary history, Iran neither forgives nor forgets the perpetrators and supporters of Iraq's chemical attacks and these crimes," he said.
Najafi urged the OPCW member states to fulfill their commitments and remove the inhumane unilateral sanctions imposed on Iran in violation of the human rights principles, which blocked the access of Iranian chemical veterans to their required equipment and medicines, saying all these bans must be removed immediately, Press TV reported.
"The Zionist regime of Israel is in possession of various types of weapons of mass destruction and is the most serious threat to peace and security in the region and the world. It is the cause of the failure of (establishment of a) Middle East region free of weapons of mass destruction," the Iranian diplomat added.
He also called on the member states of the conference to take action to realize the universality of the convention and establish a world free of chemical weapons.