Iran Press/Europe: "The passage of time cannot clear up the crimes against humanity and war crimes caused by the use of chemical weapons," Esmaeil Baqaei Hamaneh added.
During the plenary session of the UN Conference on Disarmament held in Geneva on Tuesday, January 26th, 2021, Baqaei Hamaneh reminded Germany's history of equipping the Saddam regime with chemical weapons, saying that the German government's response to address the issue seriously.
He said that all individuals and legal entities that in any way participated in arming the former Iraqi dictator with chemical weapons are complicit in Saddam's war crimes, and this issue will not be forgotten in any way over time.
Condemning the remarks of the German representative, who considered the issue to belong to four decades ago, describing raising the issue by Iran as unjustified, Baghaei Hamaneh noted: "The issue of Saddam's use of chemical weapons and the complicity of German companies with him is not only not obsolete in the minds of the Iranian people, but it is also felt with all its being by the victims of these weapons, who continue to suffer the consequences of chemical weapons injuries."
Welcoming the remarks of the German representative, who claimed that German companies involved in the sale of chemical elements to Saddam's regime were prosecuted, the representative of our country stressed that the Islamic Republic of Iran will never give up to raise the issue and pursue this blatant oppression, and expects the German government to make public the results of its investigation, including the role of German officials in negligence in transporting illegal chemicals to Iraq.
It is worth mentioning that the German representative while expressing surprise at the issue raised by Baqaei Hamaneh on Germany's complicity with Saddam's regime in the production of chemical weapons, claimed that at that time, German judicial authorities were actively investigating the allegations of exporting chemical items to Iraq, and successfully handling these cases.
He expressed surprise that Iran was accusing Germany almost four decades after the chemical attacks.
In response to the German representative's remarks, the Iranian representative reminded him that, first of all, the Islamic Republic of Iran has repeatedly mentioned the issue of Germany's participation in Saddam Hussein's chemical weapons and will keep this issue as a permanent demand from Germany forever.
Secondly, the passage of time can in no way purge the crimes against humanity and war crimes resulting from the use of chemical weapons.
He stressed the need to realize the two principles of "truth" and "justice" as a necessity to reduce the suffering of innocent victims of chemical weapons and reminded the German government of its responsibility in this regard.
Iran's Permanent Representative to the UN Office in Geneva also strongly criticized the claim of the German representative, who had introduced Iran alongside North Korea as a proliferation threat, stating: “Germany, as a country that continues to violate Articles 1, 2 and 6 of the Non-Proliferation Treaty hosts America's latest nuclear weapons more than half a century, has no right to describe a country that has no nuclear weapons and is one of the most legitimate members of the Non-Proliferation Treaty,(NPT) as a concern regarding the proliferation of nuclear weapons.”
It should be noted that the German representative in his speech last Thursday, named the Islamic Republic of Iran as one of the concerns about the proliferation of nuclear weapons, and criticized Iran's performance in relation to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of action (JCPOA).
The 2021 session of the UN Conference on Disarmament, chaired by Belgium, began last Tuesday in Geneva.
With 65 members, it is the only UN specialized body to discuss nuclear disarmament. However, due to the lack of political will on the part of nuclear-weapon states, it has not made significant progress in performing its core function over the past two decades.
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