TEHRAN – Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif castigated the West for being silent toward chemical weapons attack in the Syrian city of Aleppo by terrorists.

“Where is the West in condemning the chemical attack in Aleppo by terrorists?” Zarif wrote on his Tweeter page.

On Saturday, Syria said militants had launched a chemical attack on the government-held city of Aleppo. Media showed images of Aleppo residents being treated in hospital as they struggled to breathe.

The Syrian government and Russia said the terrorists used chlorine gas in the attack.

Zarif said the West condemns chemical attacks only if it is allegedly used by what they consider as an enemy.

“Chemical weapons only condemned if alleged to be used by an enemy; not an ally,” Zarif remarked.

The chief diplomat likened the West’s current approach toward the militant groups in Syria to its policy in the 1980s when Saddam Hussein’s army gassed Iranian civilians and soldiers. 

“A blind eye turned when Saddam used them against Iran, but war waged to destroy them when he was an enemy,” Zarif lamented.

The United States along with Britain invaded Iraq in March 2003 to destroy Saddam’s chemical weapons stockpile despite the fact that the UN was warning that all Saddam’s weapons of mass destruction programs had been demolished.

Certain Western countries, including France, sold sophisticated weaponry to Saddam in his war against Iran. Likewise, German and Dutch companies provided materials for Saddam to build chemical and biological weapons.  

The United States also provided aerial images of Iranian forces to Saddam’s army. 

However, the West turned against Iraq when in 1990 Saddam’s army invaded Kuwait, an ally of the West. 
PA/PA