Iraqi chemical attacks against Iran
During the Iran–Iraq War (1980–1988), Iraq engaged in chemical warfare against Iran on multiple occasions, including more than 30 targeted attacks on Iranian civilians. The Iraqi chemical weapons program, which had been active since the 1970s, was aimed at regulated offensive use, as evidenced in the chemical attacks against Iraqi Kurds as part of the Anfal campaign in the late 1980s. The Iraqis had also utilized chemical weapons against Iranian hospitals and medical centres.[1] According to a 2002 article in the American newspaper The Star-Ledger, 20,000 Iranian soldiers and combat medics were killed on the spot by nerve gas. As of 2002, 5,000 of the 80,000 survivors continue to seek regular medical treatment, while 1,000 are hospital inpatients.[2][3] Though the use of chemical weapons in international armed conflict was banned under the Geneva Protocol, much of the international community remained indifferent to the attacks; Iraq's military campaign in Iran was supported by the United States and the Soviet Union, both of whom had sought to contain Iranian influence after the Islamic Revolution of 1979.[4]
Background
After the
Reporter
According to Iraqi documents, assistance in the development of chemical weapons was obtained from firms in many countries, including the United States,
History
Chemical weapons were employed by Iraqi forces against Iranian combatants and non-combatants during the Iran–Iraq war (1980–1988). These have been classified based on chemical composition and casualty-producing effects. The best-known substances used by the Iraqi army were organophosphate
In 1986, the Iranian forces mounted an attack on the Faw Peninsula southeast of Basra and occupied the peninsula. This attack had not been anticipated by the Iraqi military, which did not prepare for an assault on the Faw Peninsula from across the
Attacks on civilians
The Iraqi Army employed chemical weapons in attacks against combatants and non-combatants in border cities and villages and more than 30 attacks against Iranian civilians have been reported, as follows:[1]
- On 28 June 1987 in Sardasht, West Azerbaijan
- In March 1988 in villages around the city of Marivan
- On 16 March 1988 in the Halabja, with the massacre of more than 5,000 civilians
- In May–June 1988 in villages around the cities of Gilan-e-gharb and Oshnavieh
There have been chemical attacks by the Iraqi army against medical centers and hospitals.[1]
Casualties
In a declassified 1991 report, the CIA estimated that Iran had suffered more than 50,000 casualties from Iraq's use of several chemical weapons,
Date | Event | Location | Type | Casualties* |
---|---|---|---|---|
1983, August | Haj Umran |
mustard | less than 100 Iranian/Iraqi Kurd casualties | |
1983, October–November | Panjwin |
mustard | 3,000 Iranian/Iraqi Kurd casualties | |
1984, February–March | Operation Kheibar | Majnoon Island | mustard | 2,500 Iranian casualties |
1984, March | Operation Badr | al-Basrah |
tabun | 50–100 Iranian casualties |
1985, March | Battle of the Marshes | Hawizah Marsh |
mustard and tabun | 3,000 Iranian casualties |
1986, February | Operation Dawn 8 |
al-Faw | mustard and tabun | 8,000 to 10,000 Iranian casualties |
1986, December | Umm ar-Rasas | mustard | 1,000 Iranian casualties | |
1987, April | Siege of Basra (Karbala-5) | al-Basrah |
mustard and tabun | 5,000 Iranian casualties |
1987, June | Chemical bombing of Sardasht | Sardasht | mustard | 8,000 Iranian civilians exposed |
1987, October | Mehran |
mustard and nerve agent | 3,000 Iranian casualties | |
1988, March | Halabja chemical attack |
Halabjah and villages around Marivan |
mustard and nerve agent | 1,000 Iranian civilian casualties |
1988, April | Second Battle of al-Faw | al-Faw | mustard and nerve agent | 1,000 Iranian casualties |
1988, May | Fish Lake, Iraq | mustard and nerve agent | 100 or 1,000 Iranian casualties | |
1988, June | Majnoon Island | mustard and nerve agent | 100 or 1,000 Iranian casualties | |
1988, May–June | villages around Gilan-e-gharb and Oshnavieh |
Iranian civilians | ||
1988, July | Tawakalna ala Allah Operations | South-central border | mustard and nerve agent | 100 or 1,000 Iranian casualties |
* The actual casualties may be much higher, as the latency period is as long as 40 years.[12] |
International convention
Because of reports implying the use of chemical weapons by the Iraqi army, a presidential directive was issued by the U.S.[4] Iran asked the UN to engage in preventing Iraq from using chemical weapon agents, but there were no strong actions by the UN or other international organizations. UN specialist teams were dispatched to Iran at the request of the Iranian Government, in March 1984, April 1985, February–March 1986, April 1987, and in March, July and August 1988. As a result, according to the field inspections, clinical examinations of casualties and laboratory analyses of samples done by the UN fact-finding team's investigations, the use by the Iraqi army of mustard gas and nerve agents against Iranians was confirmed. The
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e f "Long Legacy" (PDF). cbrneworld. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 May 2017. Retrieved 26 February 2016.
- ^ New Jersey Star-Ledger. Archived from the originalon 15 February 2009.
- ^ a b Center for Documents of The Imposed War, Tehran. (مرکز مطالعات و تحقیقات جنگ)[full citation needed]
- ^ a b c Kessler, Glenn. "History lesson: When the United States looked the other way on chemical weapons". Washington Post.
- ^ National Defense University Press. Institute for Defense Analyses. Retrieved 26 February 2016.
- ^ "Iraqi Scientist Reports on German, Other Help for Iraq Chemical Weapons Program". Federation of American Scientists. Retrieved 10 May 2013.
- ISBN 978-0521545266.
- ISBN 978-1851094905.
- ISBN 9781594201110.
- ISBN 978-0813011776.
- ^ Iraq's Chemical Warfare Program cia.gov
- ISSN 0040-781X. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
External links
- Chemical Weapons and the Iran-Iraq war: A case study in non-compliance; Javed Ali, James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey).