A City Gassed and Forgotten

This Tuesday, Sept. 22, marks the 40th anniversary of the start of the Iran-Iraq war. Hundreds of thousands died as a result of the confrontation. The 1988 ceasefire did not put an end to armed conflicts in the region. Two gulf wars later, this oil region remains one of the most volatile. These past 40 years, the central role of the West, notably the United States, is evident; American fickleness, too. After having armed Saddam Hussein in the ’80s, they overthrew him in 2003.

As proof of the inconsistency of American diplomacy: The fall of the Iraqi despot today benefits Iran, even as the regime in Tehran has once again become a target of the Pentagon’s warmongers. In fact, from March 2019 to March 2020, Iran sold $9 billion worth of goods to its Iraqi neighbor. A real economic breath of fresh air for Tehran. But to remember the Iran-Iraq war, one must take a detour through Sardasht, a violated and forgotten city. The Kurdish city in northwest Iran is considered to be the first urban area targeted by chemical weapons. On June 28, 1987, an Iraqi raid dropped bombs on the Iranian city. Instead of the expected detonations, a survivor described to Agence France-Presse the “white dust and smell of rotten garlic” that rose into the air. It was mustard gas that fell on 8,000 people who breathed in this contaminated air. Many among them died from this poison that affects or destroys the lungs.

Today, Iranian survivors are campaigning for recognition of Sardasht’s tragedy so that their city can become a symbol. What do the Western entities that contributed to Hussein’s chemical armament think about this?