Iran (IMNA) - The statements were delivered on Monday during the fifth session of the Review Conference of the States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention in The Hague, Netherlands, by Reza Najafi, Iran's deputy foreign minister for legal and international affairs.
"The Islamic Republic of Iran, as the largest victim of chemical weapons in contemporary history, regards any sanctions against independent members of this organization by some member states as being against international law and the Chemical Weapons Convention," Najafi said in reference to the significance of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and a global treaty on the prohibition of chemical weapons.
The Iranian envoy further emphasized the illegality and inhumanity of the Western sanctions placed on the nation and demanded that they be lifted immediately.
According to Najafi, the sanctions have prevented Iranian veterans who have been injured by chemical weapons from obtaining "needed drugs and medical items."
He said, "It is unfortunate that these loved ones… have twice been the victims of the actions of some Western governments."
"Once because these governments provided materials to and [shared] technology for manufacturing chemical weapons with the regime of [former Iraqi dictator] Saddam [Hussein] during the imposed war [against Iran], and again because of the sanctions [imposed] by these governments," he continued.
The Iranian deputy foreign minister also requested the elimination of chemical weapons in the United States, which is the only State Party to the Chemical Weapons Convention that continues to keep its stockpile "within a set deadline," and condemned any additional delay in the subject.
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