Int’l demining confab starts in Tehran

Tehran, March 12, IRNA – An international conference on humanitarian demining began in the Iranian capital on Tuesday with participation of representatives from international bodies. Iran’s Minister of Defense Brigadier General Amir Hatami and a number of top military officials from Asian states, Commonwealth countries and international organizations are present in the conference. The conference is aimed at sharing knowledge of demining with the mine-polluted countries, reflecting Iran’s humanitarian demining measures, opening an international center in Iran for teaching issues related to demining and setting up a regional center for mine-clearance activities in which Iran is expected to play a pivotal role. International Committee of the Red Cross in Iran and the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) have cooperated to hold such a conference. At the conference, Head of Iran Mine Action Center Mohammad Hossein Amir Ahmadi said wars and the use of modern weapons have caused problems for the world countries and are serious threat to global peace and security. About 42,000 square kilometers of Iran’s soil is contaminated with mines and explosive devices all remained from the Iraqi imposed war against Iran in 1980-88, Amir Ahmadi said. Iran is the biggest victims of landmines, he said. Follow us on Twitter @IrnaEnglish