TEHRAN (Iran News) – Iran to Improve Its Chemical Defense Power. Head of Iran’s Passive Defense Organization Brigadier General Gholamreza Jalali called for affiliated Iranian organizations to do their best for improving the country’s chemical defense power.
He made the remarks addressing the Fourth National Conference on Chemical Defense held simultaneous with the chemical attack on Sardasht and Halabja.
“If those involved in the chemical bombing of Sardasht and Halabja had been sentenced in courts, we would have not been witnessing the use of chemical weapons by countries today,” he said.
He added that although human rights and respect for human life are discussed across the world, chemical weapons are unfortunately used to secure the interests of the arrogant power. “This proves that the international conventions have no deterrent power,” Jalali underscored.
He criticized the westerners for their support for use of chemical weapons across the globe, despite the slogans for the protection of human rights.
“It is very important to produce equipment that protects us against chemical threats, and we need to have strong industries in this field,” he said.
On June 28, 1987, when the Iraqi imposed war against Iran was its peak, the Saddam regime’s launched chemical weapons on Sardasht, northwest Iran, which can be categorized as one of the most adverse humanitarian crimes after the First World War.
As a result of this war crime, some 130 out of 12,000 people residing in Sardasht lost their lives while more than 8,000 others suffered injuries. Although 33 years have passed since the attack, people are still suffering from its consequences.
Concurrent with the Day of Fight against Chemical and Microbial Weapons, the Fourth National Conference on Chemical Defense is underway at the initiative of Iranian Passive Defense Organization and in cooperation with Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences.
The Conference is hosting a group of university professors and researchers with a focus on country’s achievements made in managing the treatment of chemical war veterans and with the slogan of “Chemical Defense, Today’s Strategy, Tomorrow’s Immunity”. The event is being held under health protocols and guidelines due to the spread of coronavirus pandemic.
