IRNA – Chemical bombardment of Iran’s northwestern city of Sardasht was a disastrous event which drew world’s attention to the terrible dimensions of chemical weapons that led to international talks regarding the need for freedom from the horrible scourge.


Head of Foreign Ministry’s Mission in West Azarbaijan Ahmad Montazami marked the anniversary of chemical bombardment of Sardasht on June 28, 1987, saying that after ten years since the bombing, the international talks resulted in world prohibition of chemical weapon, approval of chemical weapons convention and establishment of Organization for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.

20 years passes since the implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention, which is a manifestation of international unique attempts to destroy a series of mass destruction weapons, he said.

Noting that reports on the use of chemical weapons in Syria and Iraq are worrisome, Motazami said that if international norms against chemical weapons are reinforced permanently, such incidents will never be recurred.

Iran’s northwestern city of Sardasht is the third city in the world after Japan’s Hiroshima and Nagasaki which became the target of weapons of mass destruction. On June 28 and 29, 1987, Iraqi bombers attacked four crowded parts of Sardasht with chemical bombs and engulfed its residents, women and children, young and old, with fatal chemical gases.

Unfortunately, many citizens of Sardasht are still suffering from negative effects and consequences of this attack.

The chemical bombardment killed over 100 Iranian civilians and injured hundreds of others.

Sardasht was also the first town in the world to be attacked with poisonous gas.