IRIMO pursues int’l action over attacks on civilian infrastructure during war
Iran's Meteorological Organization said on Monday that about 50 weather stations across the country were seriously damaged during the recent 40-day war, adding that it is pursuing diplomatic efforts to secure international condemnation of attacks on civilian meteorological equipment.
Sahar Tajbakhsh, head of the weather agency, said two of the agency's employees in the cities of Iranshahr in southeast and Bushehr in southwest were killed while on duty during the conflict.
"Besides this painful loss, about 50 meteorological stations across the country suffered serious damage to buildings and equipment, while some of the organization’s facilities at Tehran’s Mehrabad Airport and several of its headquarters buildings near the Defense Ministry were also damaged in the attacks,” she said at a news conference, according to IRNA.
A US-Israeli coalition launched a 40-day war on Iran on February 28, which also involved strikes on civilians and infrastructure. After a pause of several weeks following the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU), the United States resumed strikes on Iran's infrastructure on July 11 which continued for about two weeks.
Tajbakhsh said the Meteorological Organization had taken legal and diplomatic measures in response to the damage. It had submitted detailed reports on the losses and formally lodged its objections with the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) in two separate rounds.
“Our request to this international body is to put attacks on civilian and meteorological equipment on the agenda as a serious demand from affected countries at the upcoming World Meteorological Congress and to prohibit such attacks,” she said.
“We have also requested international assistance to rebuild the infrastructure. Correspondence has been conducted through the Foreign Ministry and Iran’s ambassador in Geneva so that the issue can be submitted as an official document to the 2027 World Meteorological Congress,” she said.