TEHRAN, Jul. 02 (MNA) – Secretary of Iran High Council for Human Rights Kazem Gharibabadi said that the Western countries that gave the Saddam regime chemical arms have to be held to account for the chemical attacks on innocent Iranian citizens.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran is a victim of weapons of mass destruction, more than 13,000 people have been martyred and more than 100,000 injured as a result of the use of chemical weapons against the people of our country, and some of our war veterans which were affected by the Saddam chemical attacks still become martyrs on a daily basis," the Secretary of Iran High Council for Human Rights Kazem Gharibabadi on Saturday, the anniversary of Iraqi Saddam regime bombardment of Sardasht in West Azerbaijan Province with chemical weapons on June 28, 1987, killing over 1,000 and injuring over 8,000 civilians, many of whom were permanently disabled.

He added that according to a report by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), more than 15 mainly European countries, along with the United States, were involved in equipping Saddam's regime with chemical weapons, adding that these countries must now be held to account for arming the Saddam regime.

The Iranian judicial official further called on the relevant international legal organizations to hold these countries to account, noting that complaints have been filed against some European individuals, but that is not enough.

MNA/5528675