Israel only obstacle to WMD-free Mideast: Araghchi
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Tuesday that Israel had acceded to no disarmament treaty and remained the only obstacle to the establishment of a Middle East free of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD).
Addressing the 30th Session of the Conference of the States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) in the Hague, Araghchi said such weapons had always been dangerous and inhuman.
“But when they are in the hands of wanted criminals that have been engaged in ongoing massacre and genocide for the past two years, constitute an existential threat to human civilization and to our planet,” he added in a clear reference to Israel and its war on the Gaza Strip.
Citing the Israeli regime’s use of banned weaponry including cluster ammunitions on Gaza and Lebanon over the past two years, Araghchi said that Tel Aviv must have been compelled to accede to the Convention and to submit to full-scope inspections, as a priority for Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).
The Iranian foreign minister also pointed to Israel’s war against Iran in June, saying that the aggression “was not only a blatant attack on the tenets of the UN Charter and international law but also a huge blow to NPT regime and the CWC’s founding pillars.”
“They attacked not only our safeguarded nuclear facilities but also the installations and sites under the OPCW’s verification mandate, thereby triggering the risk of the release of chemical and radioactive materials – a danger that could have threatened human health and the environment well beyond Iran’s borders.”
Iraq’s chemical attack on Iran
Referring to Iran’s experience of chemical attacks, Araghchi said that the CWC, as an outstanding legacy of human collective wisdom and conscience, was created to prevent the horror of the use of chemical weapons from recurring.
“We, the Iranians, feel the extreme pain and suffering inflicted on our soldiers and civilians by (former Iraqi dictator) Saddam regime’s chemical attacks during his war of aggression on Iran. Our wounds are still bleeding after 4 decades; and we can see the horror of chemical weapons as our war heroes and veterans as well as their families continue to suffer extreme pain”, he said.
The top diplomat said that the use of chemical weapons in armed conflicts is a heinous war crime that does not disappear with the passage of time.
“Iran persists, therefore, in its call for accountability and justice regarding Saddam regime’s use of chemical weapons against Iranians. Those who provided Saddam regime with necessary materials and know-how to develop its military chemical program must be held to account”.
On June 28, 1987, the Saddam regime dropped mustard gas bombs on Iranian western city of Sardasht, killing at least 119 Iranian civilians and injuring another 8,000, leaving some of them permanently disabled.
Western countries, including Germany, the Netherlands, Britain, France, and the United States, contributed to the Iraqi regime’s chemical weapons program at the time.
Principles of equality, impartiality
In his speech, Araghchi also called for safeguarding the fundamental principles of equality, impartiality, and non-discrimination to guarantee the effective functioning of the OPCW.
He described the CWC as the most successful disarmament treaty that can endure only if its provisions are complied with by all states with no exception and without double standards.
“Selective application or politically driven interpretations of the convention’s provisions would undermine our shared objectives and erode the collective trust among States Parties”, the Iranian foreign minister concluded.