THE HAGUE -- Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Mohammad-Ali Hosseini has called for the formation of a committee to investigate how the government of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein gained access to chemical weapons.

In a meeting on Tuesday in The Hague with the director general of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), Rogelio Pfirter, Hosseini stated that Iran is prepared to hold international training courses in Tehran on the treatment of people injured by chemical weapons and calls on the OPCW to cooperate in this project.
Tens of thousands of Iranians were killed and wounded by chemical weapons during the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war. Around 100,000 Iranians are still living with the effects, which include long-term respiratory problems, eye and skin problems as well as immune system disorders, psychological disorders, genetic disorders, and probably cancers, according to niablog.wordpress.com.
The OPCW is the implementing body of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), which is an arms control agreement that outlaws the production, stockpiling, and use of chemical weapons.
Hosseini criticized the international community for their near-total silence and indifference at the time of Saddam’s criminal use of chemical weapons against Iran and called for the formation of a committee to investigate how Saddam’s Baathist regime gained access to the weapons and to determine how to obtain reparations for the victims.
Despite the fact that Saddam was in direct violation of the Geneva Protocol of 1925, the international community remained silent for the most part. Although UN inspectors did travel to Iran and noted the horrendous effects on civilians, only two weak UN resolutions were passed regarding chemical weapons that didn’t even directly mention Saddam’s use of them, niablog.wordpress.com noted.
The Iranian deputy foreign minister for legal and international affairs asked the OPCW director general to name a proper place at the headquarters of the organization after the Iranian city of Sardasht to commemorate its 7000 victims of chemical warfare.
The OPCW director general expressed satisfaction over the continuation of medical courses on the treatment of victims of chemical weapons in the Islamic Republic of Iran and promised to consider the proposal to name a place in the OPCW secretariat in commemoration of the Sardasht victims.
Pfirter also thanked Iran for remaining committed to the Chemical Weapons Convention and for its cooperation with the organization.
In addition, he called for the non-discriminatory implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention by all countries