Iran Demands Saddam Stand Trial for Chemical Attacks

Former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein must be tried for ordering chemical weapons attacks against Iran while the two countries were at war, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said yesterday (see GSN, Nov. 23).

“The Islamic Republic of Iran expects Saddam's trial to consider the use of chemical weapons against Iran,” Mottaki said. “The Iraqi regime used chemical weapons against Iran in 200 cases, which constitutes a crime unprecedented in history.”

Mottaki claimed that Iraqi chemical weapons in the 1980-1988 war injured 100,000 Iranians and that 40,000 still suffer from the attacks.   He argued his government has the right to take legal action not only against Iraq, but also against Western companies and governments that supported Hussein during the war.

“Iraq could never have had access to such a destructive and criminal capacity without the assistance and support of Western countries and companies,” he said. “Some 400 companies, mainly Western, helped Iraq to be equipped with chemical weapons. The Islamic Republic of Iran reserves the right to file suit against these companies” (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, Dec. 21).

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