Europe’s rights advocacy claims ‘invalid’ over involvement in Halabja tragedy: Iran
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman has censured the European governments’ claims of advocating human rights as “invalid,” given that they provided logistical assistance to former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein for perpetrating a deadly chemical attack on the Iranian city of Halabja in 1988.
Esmaeil Baghaei made the statement in a post on his X social media account on Sunday, on the occasion of the 37th anniversary of the chemical attack on Halabja by the Iraqi dictatorship.
“Thirty-seven years ago on this day, the defenseless people of Halabja were subjected to a chemical bombing that had been produced with the technical and technological assistance of the United States and some European countries,” Baghaei wrote.
“Tens of thousands of innocent people lost their lives or suffered permanent painful injuries during this horrific war crime.”
Stressing that Iranians utterly sympathize with the people of Halabja in their sufferings, Baghaei said, “The passage of time cannot diminish the gravity of this crime and the demand for truth and justice.”
The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman further said, “As long as the European countries involved in the provision and development of Iraq’s chemical weapons program evade stating the ‘truth’ and accepting their responsibility, their claims regarding respect for human rights and the rule of law will remain invalid.”
On March 16, 1988, Saddam Hussein’s regime used chemical weapons in Halabja, home to Iraqi Kurds, who had joined with Iran in fighting Saddam. According to reports, 5,000 people, mainly women and children, were killed by mustard gas and sarin poisoning, and up to 12,000 have died since because of chemical exposure.
The US, the UK, Germany, Italy, and Holland were among the countries providing Saddam Hussein’s Ba’athist Iraq with the equipment and material to build chemical weapons.
Iraq made the most of its acquisitions by launching over 350 large-scale gas attacks along the Iran-Iraq border between 1980 and 1988 on soldiers and civilians alike.
The northwestern Iranian town of Sardasht was just one of the civilian areas to experience the devastating effects of mustard gas and nerve agents.
Other Iraqi dirty strikes on Iran after Sardasht were carried out in March 1988 in villages around the city of Marivan and in May-June 1988 in villages around the cities of Sarpol-e Zahab, Gilan-e-Gharb, and Oshnavieh.
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