Mehmanparast: Western Firms Must Be Punished For Helping Saddam's Chemical Weapons Program

New York, Oct 2, IRNA – Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast called for punishment of western firms which helped chemical weapons program of the toppled Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. He made the remarks while addressing a senior official meeting held on the occasion of 15th anniversary of the entry into force of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). He referred to the assistance by over 455 companies - most of them owned by western countries – to the Saddam regime to develop chemical weapons and demanded punishment for them because of their role in production of these in-humanitarian weapons. Pointing out that Iran has been the main victim of chemical weapons in the past few decades, Mehmanparast noted that over 100,000 Iranians including 7,000 civilians were killed or injured by such weapons during the 1980-88 Iraqi imposed war. He said a large number of chemically wounded people are still severely suffering from the effects of those weapons. He further underlined the need for appropriate implementation of the convention especially the part which demands absolute annihilation of all chemical weapons. Iran believes that countries possessing chemical weapons which have not fulfilled their commitments should now take speedy measures to eliminate all their chemical weapons in the shortest possible time, he added. Elsewhere in his remarks, Mehmanparast, who is also the head of the Iranian Foreign Ministry center for public diplomacy and media, referred to Saddam’s crimes against Iranian civilians in the city of Sardasht. He also called for speedy implementation of a proposal by Iran regarding establishment of an international network to support victims of chemical weapons which is already confirmed by the convention's members./end