Iran's Commitment to CWC Goes Beyond Legal Obligation
Speaking at a conference, he said that Iran's commitment in CWC is rooted in the disasters experienced during the Iraqi-imposed war and repeated use of weapons of mass destruction by Saddam's regime against Iranian people.
He said that Iran has borne the greatest brunt of chemical weapons in the present age, said an IRNA report. Khoshrou turned to the Iranian northwestern city of Sardasht as a living example of the claim and reiterated, "We strongly believe that production, storage and use of all chemical weapons should be totally banned."
He called on world states to secure a peaceful world by removing the fear of chemical weapons.
Referring to the sufferings and hardships faced by Iranian citizens and despite the cessation of hostilities in the Iraqi-imposed war some 13 years ago, the Iranian official presented some figures on damages inflicted during the event.
"The use of chemical weapons by Iraq accounts for the symptoms still suffered by thousands of victims of chemical weapons and their their facing gradual death," he added.
He said that some of the victims have to live a lonely life due to pains associated with respiratory problems. Khoshrou added, "Besides its commitments to CWC, Iran has had transparent cooperation with all members of the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons Organization."
The official said that Iran has extended the expertise of the Iranian physicians on the treatment of the victims of chemical weapons to the world medical community by arranging medical courses for physicians from the organization's member states.
A non-governmental Iranian delegation left for the Netherlands on Sunday to attend a two-week conference on prohibition of chemical weapons which opened in The Hague on Monday.
The conference, the first to be held on the chemical weapons convention, aims to examine ways of enforcing the convention.
Meanwhile, more optimal and comprehensive implementation of the chemical weapons convention is another objective of the upcoming conference.
On the sidelines of the meeting, the Iranian delegation held talks with representatives of various Dutch and international organizations associated with the affairs of the convention.
Iran is one of the victims of the chemical weapons. Iraq used a variety of chemical armaments against Iranian military forces and civilians in the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq imposed war on many occasions.
Iran launched measures to establish the prohibition of chemical weapons convention in 1992 and managed to propose the related draft to the world bodies in 1997 through its serious attempts.
At present, Iran is chairing the Asian member states of the Chemical Weapons Convention Organization, member of its confidential committee, head of its administrative-financial group, member of its scientific consulting group and one of the four assistants to the organization's director general in charge of making the results of the conference operational.
A number of Iranian inspectors will also attend The Hague conference to oversee the performance of the executive department of the convention.
The Iranian delegation also consists of some disabled individuals, who fell victim to chemical weapons during the Iran-Iraq war, and representatives of NGOs involved in the campaign against chemical weapons and investigation of its victims.