TEHRAN – Rocker Kaveh Afaq and his bandmates wore gas masks in part of their Sunday night performance at Tehran’s Milad Tower to remember the victims of Iraq’s chemical attack on the Iranian town of Sardasht in 1987.

The band also dedicated the song “Where Is My Town” to the victims at the concert, which was warmly received by concertgoers, the Persian service of ILNA reported on Monday.

“Sardasht is the first town in the world to have been attacked by chemical weapons,” Afaq said before performing the song.

“It’s wonderful that Hiroshima, as world’s first city that was attacked by nuclear weapons, has a street named after Sardasht, which has also a street named after Hiroshima,” he added.

Iraq bombarded Sardasht in West Azerbaijan Province with chemical weapons on June 28, 1987, killing over 1000 and injuring over 8000 civilians, many of whom were permanently disabled.

“We should take our hats off to those people who sacrificed themselves for our country during the war,” Afaq noted.

Afaq co-founded The Ways Band in 2003 and split from it in 2011. Most of his songs voice patriotic sentiments and justice.

Afaq’s band also features Arman Mehraban, Payam Zamani, Shahab Afaqi, Andre Khachikian, Mehrdad Hamedi and Arman Tabrizian.

Photo: Members of Iranian rocker Kaveh Afaq’s band dressed in gas masks perform at Tehran’s Milad Tower on December 31, 2017 to remember the victims of Iraq’s chemical attack on the Iranian town of Sardasht in 1987. (ILNA)

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