Iran Monumental Chemical Weapons Victims Statue Unveiled In Hague

Berlin, Nov 27, IRNA – A monumental statue titled Chemical Weapons Victims, dedicated by Islamic Republic of Iran to Chemical Weapons Non-Proliferation Organization was unveiled at CWNPO Headquarters in Hague, Netherlands, Monday. According to IRNA, present at the unveiling ceremony of the Iranian monumental statue there were Iran's deputy foreign minister in international affairs, Iran's representative and permanent representative at the CWNPO, some heads and official of international organizations and a large number of political and diplomatic delegations present in Hague. The ceremony was held on the first day of the 17th Annual Conference of the CWNPO Member Countries, scheduled between November 26th and November 30th in Hague. The Chemical Weapons Victims monumental statue was erected at the CWNPO Headquarters on the 15th anniversary of passing the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) and the organization related to it, thanks to the efforts and harmonizing by Iran's Embassy in Hague, by the Martyrs of War Disabled Veterans Foundation of the Islamic Revolution. The Iranian deputy foreign minister had a brief lecture at the unveiling ceremony of the monumental statue in which he reiterated, 'This monumental statue is a reminder of thousands of innocent people, including over 100 thousand innocent Iranian citizens, who are victims of the usage of chemical weapons around the globe.' He added, 'There are still a large number of those victims who are alive and suffering from the effects of these weapons. Mohammad-Mahdi Akhoundzadeh added, 'This monumental statue is aimed at reminding us all the time about the victims of chemical weapons who by dedicating their lives and their livelihood gifted peace to the mankind, and never to forget them.' He reiterated, 'This monumental statute also shows the strong will of the international community for full annihilation of the weapons of mass destruction (WMD), including the chemical weapons around the world. The Managing Director of CWNPO Ahmed Uzumju, too, at the ceremony referred to the importance of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) and the 15th anniversary of its related organization, reiterating, 'The Sardasht tragedy is still alive in our minds.' Uzumju added, 'I issue a condolence message on each 29th of April in memory of the entire victims of chemical weapons and another one on each 28th of June in memory of the victims of Sardasht, sympathizing with their bereaved family members. He emphasized, 'The objective of erecting such a monumental statute is always reminding us of their memories and the pain and suffrage they tolerated, to keep their memories alive, and to remind us of the responsibilities we have at this organization.' Uzumju pointed out that the establishment of the CWNPO was aimed at the annihilation of the entire chemical weapons, reiterating, 'Our responsibility at the organization is ridding the mankind due to the threat of using such weapons. He reiterated, 'Our responsibility at the CWNPO is ridding the mankind of the horror of using such weapons.' He also noted, 'There is still long path till achieving our entire objectives as the threat is still not fully lifted. We must spend tireless efforts to convince those countries that have still not become members of the conventions to join it.' The IRI Ambassador and Permanent Representative at the CWNPO Mohammad-Kazem Gharibabadi, too, said after unveiling the monumental statute, 'The representative office of the Islamic Republic of Iran at Hague has during the recent years spent tremendous efforts aimed at reviving the memories and recollections of the dear war disabled veterans of chemical weapons and the pains and sufferings they have been suffering both in the course of, and ever since the end of the Eight-Year Iraqi-Imposed War.' Gharibabadi referred to the ratification of a bill by the Executive Committee of the organization for the issuance of the CWNPO secretary general's annual issuance of messages in memory of the victims of the chemical weapons of Sardasht, on June 28th, as one of those moves. He meanwhile added, 'Among the other moves made by this representative office I can refer to passing ratification of a bill at the 16th Conference of the Organization the member countries of the CWNPO on December 6th, 2011, decided to establish the International Network for Supporting the Victims of Chemical Weapons.' The ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran at Hague at the end expressed hope that these moves would manage to keep alive and revive the names and memories of the dear war disabled veterans of Iran at the scene of international organizations. Concurrent with the 62nd Summit of Implementation Council of “Organization for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons”, the Ambassador of Iran in Holland requested the general director of this organization to name one of the halls of this organization for “Sardasht” City. This request had been made within correspondence with the general director of this organization in order to honor the victims of chemical attacks made by the Saddam Regime to the people of Sardasht City in 1986. According to the report of Navideshahed; the information dissemination website of self sacrifice and martyrdom culture as quoting Press Office of Iran’s Embassy in La Haye, in the correspondence with Ahmed Uzumju, Kazem Gharibabadi the Ambassador of our country referred to more than one hundred thousand victims of chemical weapons in our country during the imposed war. He further added: “Throughout the history, Sardasht is the first city that has been bombarded by suffocating chemical gases. And more than eight thousand defenseless people of this city have been martyred or severely wounded in these bombardments. And majority of these defenseless people were consisted of children, women and old people.” In his letter, Gharibabadi added: “The catastrophe in Sardasht City and also similar cases in Iran have been so great that we still witness martyrdom of victims of chemical weapons every day. And it is while more than two decades passes since this tragic event.” It should be mentioned that the 62nd summit of Implementation Council of “Organization for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons” was held in the headquarters of the organization located in La Haye of Holland. That Islamic Republic of Iran - the greatest victim of chemical weapons during the recent decades - is one of the most active members of this organization. Iran plays a key role in all issues discussed and focused in this organization./end