Iraq Must Pay War Reparations to Iran
The compensation of the war damages and international cooperation for the reconstruction of Iran were among the most important articles of the resolution, but unfortunately no related international organization has taken any step to implement them.
Some experts believe that lack of support of international organizations of Iran is one of the main reasons for procrastination in the implementation of the said article. Despite the exchange of several visits between the Iranian and Iraqi officials during the past few months no step has been taken for the implementation of the Resolution 598 regarding the war indemnities. The future Iraqi government according to international law is duty-bound to pay the war indemnities.
What follows is the opinion of experts regarding the issue of war indemnities in their interviews with the Mehr News Agency.
The Rapporteur of Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Elaheh Koolaee strongly criticized the Foreign Ministry for its failure to follow up the UN Resolution 598.
Koolaee, talking to Mehr News Agency, said Iran's foreign diplomacy has not had an acceptable performance in that regard and has lost many opportunities.
"None of the articles of the resolution has been implemented and the ministry should respond to the Iranian nation for this shortcoming," she said.
Koolaee said the Foreign Ministry should have followed up the issue before the outbreak of the U.S.-British war against Iraq "not now when nothing is predictable in Iraq".
"The Foreign Ministry officials must learn from Kuwait to see how they were successful in making Iraq pay compensations for waging the 1991 war on that country," she said. "The officials should find out what their Kuwaiti counterparts did."
Also in a similar development, Hamid-Reza Haji-Babaei, a member of the commission, told the Mehr News Agency that the Majlis and the government are seriously following up the issue of getting compensations from Iraq for its 1980-1988 war on Iran.
Haji-Babaei said Iran would raise the issue at related international organizations "as soon as the Iraqi government is formed".
However, he rejected Koolaee's remarks that the Foreign Ministry was not following the issue of UN Resolution 598 by saying that the foreign diplomacy had been successful in having several articles of the resolution implemented.
"Several articles of the resolution regarding those about recognizing and condemning the aggressor and releasing prisoners of war (POWs) have been implemented," he said. "Furthermore, Iran informed the UN that Iraq should pay as much as $1,000 billion in compensation for war to the Islamic Republic, even though the UN reduced that amount to $100 billion."
Haji-Babaei regretted that no serious measure has yet been taken regarding Iraq's paying the compensation to Iran, stressing that this was as a result of Baghdad's failure to cooperate with Tehran and the UN in that regard.
"We should wait for the new Iraqi regime to form, because in such chaotic situation that has gripped Iraq, no country can conduct even simple trade transactions with the country ... No country can now settle its debts from Iraq," he said.
Elsewhere in his remarks, the deputy said the Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Commission does not need to issue a new guideline regarding receiving compensations from Iraq, stressing that the Foreign Ministry must follow up the UN resolution to the effect.
A professor of international law Elham Aminzadeh told the Mehr News Agency that the United Nations has estimated the direct non-military indemnities of Iran-Iraq war at U.S. $97.2 billion.
"But Iran's estimated figure is around 1 trillion dollars, said the professor.
Aminzadeh said that based on a report issued by the United Nations in December 1991, which recognized Iraq as the aggressor of the 1980-8 war, the invading party shall pay the reparations.
The report called for convention of a roundtable to set the damages and Iran had the right to receive the indemnities, Aminzadeh added.
According to the scholar, despite clear announcement of the then UN secretary general, none of international bodies has taken a measure to this end.
The scholar stressed that Iraq shall fully compensate for the damages incurred by its aggression, destruction, occupation, and settlement in the territory.
"Even the pension allocated for the families of martyrs and those disabled in action as well as costs of the defensive warfare shall be assessed and considered," Aminzadeh stressed.
Also talking to the Mehr News Agency, Seyed Mousa Pour-Mousavi said all Iranians are firm on receiving reparations from the future government of Iraq.
"According to the international law, a new government is not entitled to annul or disregard the official agreements reached between parties based on the international law system," said the scholar who is a professor of international law.
He said that war indemnities shall cover both the damages incurred during the imposed war period in 1980-1988 and the following economic repercussions.
Referring to the figures estimated by a number of experts on war reparations, Mousavi said the figure stands at U.S. $2.5 trillion.
He also urged the upcoming Iraqi government to commit itself to the good-neighborly policies with its eastern neighbor and observe the international rules.
The Iranian government should talk to the future government of Iraq within the framework of 1975 agreement.
Besides economic damages, the war inflicted irreparable cultural, social and political damages to the country.
The war kept Iran back from the process of development about 521 years, he said adding, it will take 52 years of activities to compensate for the war damages.
Iran's active impartiality in U.S.-Iraq war was a wise decision, he said, adding, a flexible, logical diplomacy can safeguard our interests in the future.