In the message which has been released by the British Foreign Office, it has been reminded that thousands of Iranian soldiers were targeted by Saddam's army's chemical attacks, throughout the imposed war against Iran.
The British Foreign Office has confessed to the usage of chemical weapons by Saddam's regime throughout the imposed war, while Western governments, including the administrations of Netherland, Britain, Germany, and the US were the main supporters of Saddam's regime, even in provision of the raw material and technology of production of chemical weapons.
In fact, European companies were the main producers and providers of these weapons for Saddam's regime; with many European officials greenlighting the usage of chemical weapons by Saddam's regime, and remaining silent toward the heinous crimes committed by the former Iraqi Ba'th minority regime.
Meanwhile, the documents released throughout the waning years of the Iraqi imposed war on Iran, and thereafter, prove that nearly 207 European companies, including Dutch, German, and French corporations sold weapons of mass destruction to former Iraqi Ba'th minority regime.
Meanwhile, Saddam's regime, in addition to launching chemical attacks on Iranian soldiers, targeted many Iranian and Iraqi civilians, including scores of women and children in the chemical bombardments of the Iranian city of Sardasht, and the Iraqi city of Halabcheh, martyring innumerable innocent civilians.
The chemical attack of the former Iraqi regime against Halabcheh in the year 1987, which is otherwise known as the Bloody Friday, left at least 5,000 people martyred, and 7,000 others chemically wounded.
Meanwhile, although British officials' belated confession to usage of chemical weapons by Saddam's regime against Iran, is apparently a historical confession and a step forward, it reveals the double standards adopted by Western regimes, and international organizations toward the production, sale, and usage of chemical weapons.
The British Foreign Secretary, Boris Johnson, said that in the year 1997, the world united to prohibit the proliferation, maintenance, and usage of chemical weapons, within the framework of chemical weapons convention. However, in recent years, we continue to bear witness to usage of chemical weapons by Daesh terrorist outfit in Syria and Iraq.
The usage of chemical weapons in Syria and even Yemen once again shows the double standards adopted by Western regimes and their cohorts. On one hand, these regimes claim to champion human rights, denouncing chemical attacks; while on the other hand, they voice support for companies, who sell weapons, while remaining silent in the face of atrocities that take place.
Based on international reports, during the recent months, hundreds of Yemeni nationals, especially women and children have been targeted by prohibited weapons, including phosphoric bombs, which British, Canadian, and US regimes supply to Saudi regime in a bid to attack innocent Yemeni civilians.
The Director General of Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), Ahmet Uzumcu, referring to the hardships and woes of the victims of chemical attacks, noted: "Everyone is responsible for standing up against usage of chemical weapons in any part of the world."
Under these circumstances, it seems that commitment of countries toward their international obligations, and avoidance of double standards are the necessary conditions for prevention of occurrence of future catastrophes in this domain.
