Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, tweeting photos of Iranian civilians victimized by Western-supplied chemical weapons of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussain in 1980s, reminded US President Donald Trump that Tehran preserved in the hard times of 1980s and will keep resisting in the face of the “maximum pressure” campaign. RNA - “On June 28, we commemorate the horrific chemical attack on our civilians in Sardasht, Iran,” Zarif wrote in a post published on his official Twitter page on Saturday, saying that the Islamic Republic will continue to put up spirited resistance in the face of the United States’ “maximum pressure” campaign, just as it persevered during the 1980s Iran-Iraq war.
“We’ll never forget that Western world supported and armed Saddam--even with chemical weapons,” he added, criticizing the UN Security Council for falling short of condemning the attack while pledging resistance against pressures on the country.
“Security Council never condemned his gassing of our people. We persevered then, and will now,” he said.
During the Iraq-Iran war, Iraq’s dictator Saddam Hussein waged several chemical attacks on Iran’s cities, leaving behind many victims who are still suffering after decades.
In June 1987, the Iraqi Air Force targeted four most populated areas of Sardasht in West Azerbaijan province of Iran with chemical bombs. The attack on the city immediately killed about 130 people and injured thousands of others.
A very large proportion of those who survived from the Sardasht gas attack developed serious long-term complications over the next few years, including serious respiratory problems, eye lesions, skin problems as well as problems in their immune system. Many of those who fell victim to the attacks also lost their lives over the past three decades.
Several Western countries, including Germany, the UK, the US, provided the Iraqi dictator with the equipment and material to build chemical weapons.
The remarks come amid heightened tensions between Iran and the US, which Washington stoked after its unilateral exit from a 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and six world powers, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and reinstatement of sanctions as part of its policy of “maximum” pressure against the Islamic Republic.
On Friday, Zarif said that the US is the only country in the world owning chemical weapons, adding that the world will not be free from those weapons unless Washington destroys its arsenal of prohibited arms.
According to Fars News Agancy, Iran believes that a main step toward having a world free of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) is "to completely destroy the chemical weapons arsenal of the US as the only owner of such weapons in the world", Zarif said today, in a message on the anniversary of the chemical attacks on the Northwestern Iranian city of Sardasht.
There he added, "Iran, once more, emphasizes its principal policy of condemnation of using chemical weapons anywhere, anytime and under any circumstances."
Criticizing the US for "being addicted to using inhumane tool of economic sanctions and terrorism" against Iran, Zarif said that the move has made the access of the victims of the chemical attack to the required medication much more difficult.
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