US complicity in Saddam's chemical attack ongoing through sanctions
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On June 28, 1987, the Saddam administration launched mustard gas bombs on Sardasht, a tiny city in Iran's West Azerbaijan Province, killing 119 Iranians and wounding another 8,000.
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Iran’s Acting Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kania addresses a ceremony in Tehran on July 1, 2024,(IRNA)
Iran's interim Foreign Minister, Ali Bagheri Kani, claims that the US keeps hurting Iranian victims of chemical warfare by imposing sanctions that prevent the nation from accessing necessary medical supplies.
June 28th marks the 37th anniversary of the catastrophic chemical assault on the Iranian city of Sardasht by Iraq's dictator Saddam Hussein.
At a commemoration ceremony, Kani asserted that Western nations backed the 8-year war in the 1980s, diplomatically backing Hussein as well as on the battlefield, preventing the UNSC from passing any resolutions or deterring the Iraqi dictatorship.
He said that the United States paralyzed global systems and prevented all efforts by international bodies to prevent Hussein from carrying out the strike, adding that the US and its Western allies are now preventing Iran from receiving medicine needed by victims of the attacks.
On June 28, 1987, the Saddam administration launched mustard gas bombs on Sardasht, a tiny city in Iran's West Azerbaijan Province, killing 119 Iranians and wounding another 8,000.
Iran supports the eradication of such weapons, Kani affirmed, noting that it was one of the "most effective and active" countries working to create a world free of chemical weapons.
In these barbaric attacks, a variety of hazardous chemical weapons, including mustard and nerve and choking agents, were utilized against Iranians, some for the first time he stated.
According to Kani, Western intelligence documents and reports from UN probes into Iraq's weapons of mass destruction program, Western corporations, and governments played a crucial role in providing and funding the Iraqi regime's chemical weapons program, which killed at least 10,000 Iranians and injured more than 107,000.
Kani noted that Iran is committed to pursuing its lawful, legal, and moral demands from these complicit nations, which include Germany, the Netherlands, Britain, France, and the US.
Iran has urged the Netherlands to hold responsible all those who helped equip the Saddam regime's weapons program, he said.
'Israel' actions in Gaza comparable to chemical bombardment
Finally, Kani compared the Israeli regime's continued atrocities against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip to the chemical bombing.
"Today, we need decisive action to stop the crimes in Gaza," he asserted, stressing that the West's hesitation and appeasement had enabled "Israel" to slaughter even more Palestinians. “The same countries that supported Saddam to use chemical weapons are directly complicit in Israel’s crime in Gaza."
The Palestinian NGO Network Rehabilitation Sector issued a warning about the severe repercussions of "Israel's" continued and worsening onslaught on Gaza.
On day 269 of the genocide in Gaza, the death toll reached 37,900 Palestinians killed and 86,060 injured by the Israeli occupation amid the IOF's brutal onslaught, according to the daily report published by the Health Ministry in Gaza.
According to the organization, around 10,000 Palestinians have developed various disabilities as a result of the attacks.
The NGO reported that the aggression has driven tens of thousands of disabled people to escape, subjecting them to difficult living circumstances and serious psychological damage, according to the organization.
The statement noted that Israeli destruction of infrastructure, important roadways, and rehabilitation facilities has severely limited the movement and access to services for people with disabilities. This has substantially reduced their capacity to evacuate safely and has resulted in the loss of critical assistive devices left behind amid the bombardment.
