World must work against use of chemical weapons: Iran cmdr

Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari, the commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), said on Saturday that the freedom-seeking nations should work to prevent production, development and use of chemical weapons and weapons of mass destruction by the Israeli regime and hegemonic powers especially the United States, ISNA reports. General Jafari made the remarks in a message to a ceremony marking the 27th anniversary of the fatal chemical attack on the Iranian city of Sardasht by the regime of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein on June 28, 1987. Over 1,000 people were killed and more than 8,000 were permanently disabled due to the attack. The Iranian commander also stated that the chemical attack on Sardasht was not given due attention by the global public opinion because of restrictions imposed on mainstream news media at that time. According to reports, the use of chemical weapons by Baghdad during the eight-year Iraqi imposed war on Iran (1980-1988) inflicted over 100,000 casualties on the Iranian side, with many others dying on a daily basis as a result of their injuries. Around 20,000 Iranian soldiers were killed instantly by nerve gas. Sardasht was the main target of Iraq's chemical bombardments during the war. The city was attacked with mustard gas bombs twice. Many children gradually lost their vision after birth as a result of the chemical bombardment. A quarter of the population of that time is still suffering from severe illnesses. Iran has slammed Western countries for providing the former Iraqi regime with chemical arms in the 1980s.