00:00:00 – 00:00:06 – caption, fade-in & fade-out
This historical document
was compiled through 2002-2014.
00:16:03 – 00:18:11 – war veteran in Farsi
When I was wounded…
00:18:12 – 00:20:11
I was 17 years old.
00:20:20 – 00:23:04
We were in a tank ditch…
00:23:05 – 00:26:10
when a chemical missile hit nearby.
00:27:11 – 00:29:18
After 1 hour..
00:30:05 – 00:32:20
blisters appeared on my body.
00:32:21 – 00:35:12
I could hardly see anymore.
00:35:23 – 00:39:05
I remained in coma for 3 weeks.
00:43:03 – 00:46:19
Until now I visited Germany 40 times…
00:46:20 – 00:50:19
over the last 15-16 years.
00:52:10 – 00:56:01
During this period
I was under narcosis 140 times.
01:01:12 – 01:03:22
After one year and a half...
01:05:00 – 01:07:14
I got short of breath.
01:08:19 – 01:14:05
The doctor said
I had a wild growth in my trachea.
01:39:01 – 01:44:00 – title, fade in-fade out
A FORGOTTEN CRIME
01:45:24 – 01:52:06 – title, fade in-fade out
a film by
Elli Safari & Remmelt Lukkien
01:56:22 – 02:01:08 – caption, fade in-fade out
south-west Iran
22 September 1980
02:01:09 – 02:03:02 – archive footage in Farsi
The Iraqis are coming!
02:05:23 – 02:08:00
No fear, no fear!
Fire...fire! No fear!
02:08:01 – 02:10:03
The Iraqi's!
Hurry, hurry…they're coming!
02:56:11 – 03:02:24 – caption, fade in-fade out
Joost Hiltermann
International Crisis Group
author of A Poisonous Affair
03:44:07 – 03:46:03 – archive footage in Farsi
Attention! Attention!
03:46:04 – 03:51:06
This alarm signal
indicates Danger Situation Red.
03:51:07 – 03:56:07
It means that we are expecting an air raid.
03:56:08 – 04:00:17
Leave your workplace
and go to the air raid shelter.
04:06:00 – 04:08:14 - P de Cuellar in English but subtitled
The Iraqis said that they were not...
04:08:15 – 04:11:05
invading Iran.
04:09:24 – 04:17:19 – caption, fade in-fadeout
J. Perez de Cuellar
UN Secretary General 1982-91
04:11:06 – 04:14:20
But that they
considered they have rights...
04:10:08 – 04:18:02
on Iraqi territory...
on Iranian territory.
04:18:13 – 04:22:09 – caption, fade in-fade out
Tehran, Iran
04:26:15 – 04:34:13 – caption, fade in-fade out
Kamal Kharazi
Supreme Defense Council 1980-88
05:18:11 – 05:26:01 – caption, fade in-fade out
Ali Akbar Velayati
Foreign Minister 1981-97
05:59:04 – 06:03:02 - Rafsanjani in Farsi
From the very beginning
of the war it became clear to us...
06:04:08 – 06:08:11
that the conflict was started by Iraq...
06:05:17 – 06:14:15 - caption, fade in-fade out
Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani
Commander-in-Chief 1980-88
06:09:07- 06:12:11
and wanted
and supported by the world powers.
06:12:24 – 06:15:14
Both the western and the eastern blocks...
06:15:15 – 06:18:10
as well as the 'backward' regional block...
06:19:11 – 06:21:21
collaborated with Saddam.
07:00:02 – 07:03:19 – Rezaie in Farsi
We waited
for the world to declare two things.
07:03:20 – 07:07:13
Recognition of Iran's international borders...
07:07:13 – 07:15:23 – caption, fade in-fade out
Mohsen Rezaie
Head Revolutionary Guard Corps 1981-97
07:07:14 – 07:10:07
from the 1975 agreement.
07:10:08 - -7:15:00
And recognize
that Saddam attacked Iran.
07:15:01 – 07:18:02
These two points
were very important to us.
07:18:16 – 07:24:02
If the Security Council
would have acknowledged them...
07:24:09 – 07:27:19
within 2 or 3 years,
the war would have ended.
07:28:09 – 07:33:13
For us
that would have been the end of it.
07:57:08 – 07:59:06 - P de Cuellar in English but subtitled
The Iraqis were winning the war.
07:59:07 – 08:02:03
Until the day in which…
08:02:04 – 08:08:07
they created a tremendous
reaction from the people of Iran...
08:08:08 – 08:11:03
a kind of patriotic movement…
08:11:04 – 08:13:16
which gave them enormous strength.
09:48:04 – 09:53:04 – Rezaie in Farsi
We had information that Iraq
was producing chemical weapons.
09:54:01 – 09:58:16
But we never thought
it was going to use them so extensively...
09:58:17 – 10:03:22
and without any reservations
against our forces in the war.
10:22:20 – 10:26:13 - war veteran in Farsi
I served near Abadan
when I got contaminated.
10:26:14 – 10:29:17
During breakfast…
10:30:04 – 10:32:08
a missile hit nearby.
10:32:09 – 10:35:22
We thought it was a shrapnel missile.
But we were not sure.
10:34:12 – 10:40:16 – caption, fade in-fade out
Salar Arjmand
war veteran
10:35:23 – 10:38:04
Then we noticed
the bitter smell of almonds.
10:38:05 – 10:40:02
We had no idea what it was.
10:40:03 – 10:41:18
What is it?, we asked.
10:41:19 -10:43:18
Maybe shrapnel, they said.
10:55:19 – 10:59:18 - war reporter in Farsi
On Majnoon island I experienced
chemical bombs for the first time.
11:00:08 – 11:02:06
I didn’t know what it was.
11:02:17 – 11:04:21
Chemicals! Chemicals!, they said.
11:04:04 – 11:10:06 – caption, fade in-fade out
Reza Borji
war reporter
11:04:22 – 11:09:05
I left the island by car…
11:09:06 – 11:12:21
and arrived at the boat landing…
11:12:22 -11:15:11
when I saw a cloud of white powder...
11:15:12 – 11:18:16
white smoke in the sky.
11:20:11 – 11:25:02
After 30-60 minutes the
wounded arrived.
11:25:14 – 11:30:08
Their blisters looked horrible.
11:30:09 – 11:33:24
I had seen many war scenes…
11:34:00 -11:36:24
but the sight
of those blisters was horrible.
11:38:02 -11:41:03
I have to confess, for the first time,...
11:41:22 -11:44:15
that I quickly ran away…
11:45:14 – 11:50:18
from the place where the wounded were…
11:50:19 – 11:57:15
to hide behind a sand wall
that protected a field hospital...
11:58:17 – 12:02:23
to escape seeing those scenes.
12:02:24 – 12:08:18
But I knew that I had to
return in the following days.
12:09:21 – 12:15:08
Two days later I became contaminated
for the first time on Majnoon island.
12:22:23 – 12:224:17 - war veteran in Farsi
My eyes started burning…
12:24:18 -12:29:08
I started to throw up heavily…
12:29:13 – 12:31:03
also blood.
12:31:04 – 12:33:05
I said: God, what is this?
12:33:06 – 12:35:24
Then the chemical emergency crew arrived.
12:36:00 – 12:38:04
I asked: What is this?
Mustard gas, they said.
12:38:05 – 12:39:15
Iraq used mustard gas.
12:59:02 – 13:03:08 - war veteran in Farsi
Because the missile fell on top of us
the contents covered us.
13:03:09 – 13:07:18
All we could see
were big blisters all over us.
13:03:22 – 13:09:00 – caption, fade in-fade out
M. Shagarf Nakhai
war veteran
13:07:19 – 13:13:19
My head was full of blisters
and my face was horribly black.
13:16:23 -13:22:23
In the hospital they took us
to the washroom to cut our blisters.
13:24:22 -13:30:00 – war veteran in Farsi
I remember I cried like a child
when we went there.
13:30:01 – 13:32:20
I just felt like a child.
13:32:21 – 13:37:15
In one month
I went from over 70 kg to 35 kg.
13:32:23 – 13:38:02 – caption, fade in-fade out
H. Hasani Saadi
war veteran
13:38:18 – 13:43:17
All of my body,
anywhere I touched, was blisters.
13:43:18 – 13:46:06
We could not tolerate clothing...
13:46:07 – 13:48:14
so they covered us with a sheet.
13:48:15 – 13:52:22
Because our bodies
were burnt all over.
13:52:23 – 13:56:01
We stayed in hospital
for two and a half months.
13:56:02 -14:00:15
They took us
to the washroom almost daily...
14:00:16 – 14:04:05
to clean our blisters.
14:04:06 – 14:11:15
They covered them with
a white substance which also burnt terribly.
14:28:01 – 14:32:16 - Rafighdoust in Farsi
The first time Iraq
massively used chemical weapons ...
14:31:02 – 14:38:01 – caption, fade in-fade out
Mohsen Rafighdoust
Minister Revolutionary Guard 1982-89
14:32:17- 14:36:08
was during our Operation Kheybar.
14:36:09 -14:40:01
At the time we had no
defense against chemical weapons.
14:41:23 – 14:44:11
We thought
that this might happen again.
14:44:18 – 14:59:05
So in the Revolutionary Guards we
established a defense department...
14:49:05 - 14:52:12
against
chemical and biological weapons...
14:52:13 – 14:55:08
and started to
manufacture defense material.
15:15:19 – 15:18:14 - Rezaie in Farsi
After Operation Kheybar…
15:18:15 -15:22:09
we instructed commanders,
soldiers and volunteers...
15:22:10 – 15:27:22
to distinguish
chemical from regular bombs.
15:27:23 – 15:31:15
For example
by the color of the explosion...
15:31:16 – 15:37:04
and the smell of chemicals in the air.
15:38:00 – 15:41:09
This is what we explained to them.
15:41:14 – 15:44:22
So when they noticed
the first sign of a chemical attack...
15:44:23 – 15:48:19
they would immediately use their masks.
15:56:18 – 16:01:02 - Rafighdoust in Farsi
In field hospitals behind the front...
16:01:14 - 16:06:20
the contaminated soldiers were washed...
16:07:03 – 16:11:23
and treated with medicines
that we had developed ourselves.
16:11:24 – 16:15:15
Then they were flown
to a hospital in the nearest city.
16:15:16 – 16:18:18
But because the enemy…
16:18:19 – 16:22:11
used new chemical agents all the time...
16:22:18 – 16:25:20
we had little success.
16:28:19 – 16:32:02 - archive footage in Farsi
What's your name?
- Norouzi
16:32:03 – 16:35:04
From which battalion?
- Infantry.
16:34:23 – 16:39:19 - caption, fade in-fade out
Medical Records Archive
16:35:05 – 16:38:20
You were injured yesterday?
- Yes.
16:38:21 – 16:42:03
What's your problem now?
- Chemicals.
16:42:04 -16:46:11
How do you feel?
- My chest, my hands, my head...
16:46:19 – 16:49:23
What happened to your breathing?
16:51:16 – 16:54:20
Sometimes it gets stuck.
18:03:09 – 18:09:23 – caption, fade in-fade out
Dr. Shahriar Khateri
researcher chemical weapons effects
…part of Iran, which Iraq used chemical agents…
18:11:03 - 18:15:04 - Khateri in Farsi
In the war two kinds
of chemical agents were used.
18:15:24 – 18:19:20
One of them,
nerve gas, kills instantly.
18:20:12 – 18:25:02
If you inhale a certain amount of it
you die instantly.
18:25:21 – 18:29:08
The second agent,
mustard gas, causes blisters.
18:29:23- 18:34:17
It doesn't kill
but incapacitates.
18:35:09 – 18:39:21
It eliminates people in the long run.
18:54:15 – 19:01:13 – caption, fade in-fade out
Dr. Hamid Sohrabpour
expert chemical victims treatment
19:22:05 – 19:25:19 - Khateri in Farsi
American research shows...
19:26:16- 19:30:12
that the effect
of mustard gas on the eyes ...
19:30:13 – 19:33:23
peaks after 20-25 years.
19:37:08 – 19:41:00 - war veteran in Farsi
For 12 years I was blind.
19:41:09 – 19:43:16
Then…
19:44:19 – 19:48:13
I had several eye transplantations.
19:48:14 – 19:52:23
6-7 on my right eye
and 1 or 2 on my left eye.
19:52:24 – 19:55:19
That's why I can see at least a bit.
19:57:14 – 20:01:11 - Khateri in Farsi
Mustard gas is our main problem.
20:02:01 – 20:05:16
It's mechanism is still unknown.
20:05:17 – 20:08:10
That's why
no treatment has yet been found.
20:08:11 – 20:10:17
Only the symptoms can be treated.
20:10:18 -20:13:16
The gas was inhaled...
20:13:17 – 20:18:03
and caused lung damage
in a way we don't understand.
20:18:04 – 20:24:21
What we can do now
is to ease the breathing a little...
20:19:15 – 20:24:14 - caption, fade in, fade out
OPCW Medical Course
Tehran
20:24:22 – 20:28:24
with a lung spray.
20:29:00 – 20:33:09
To halt recurring lung infections.
20:36:23 – 20:41:02 - war veteran in Farsi
Each winter,
beside my eye problems ...
20:41:03 – 20:44:09
also my lung illness comes back.
20:45:07 – 20:48:01
When the lung infection returns...
20:49:10 – 20:53:09
you can't treat it at home...
20:53:10 – 20:56:09
with tablets and antibiotics.
20:56:10 – 20:59:10
You have to stay in the hospital.
21:01:24 – 21:03:22 - Sohrabpour in Farsi
Today is the 15th?
21:05:11 – 21:08:03
You did not send me for an internal check-up.
21:08:04 – 21:09:18
What kind of check-up?
21:09:19 – 21:11:06
My intestines, my liver.
21:21:17 – 21:24:05 - Khateri in Farsi
The drying out of the eyes...
21:24:06 – 21:31:13
We know that the dry cornea
is damaged slowly by exposure to the air.
21:31:16 – 21:36:09
Eye drops provide
the necessary moisture.
21:36:10 – 21:42:05
Ointments and body lotions
reduce the skin irritations.
21:42:06 – 21:45:12
But this is only symptom control.
21:48:01 – 21:50:03 - doctor in Farsi
Take off your shirt, Mr. Karimi.
21:50:21 – 21:52:20
When were you contaminated?
21:52:21 – 21:56:00
In 1986 at Shalamcheh.
22:00:00 – 22:04:11 - caption, fade in, fade out
OPCW Medical Course
Tehran
23:32:18 – 23:39:15 - caption, fade in, fade out
Norbert Gansel
member West German parliament
1972-97
23:34:10 – 23:36:16 - Gansel in German
Gas and Germany…
23:36:17 – 23:38:03
that is…
23:40:15 – 23:45:14
a bitter burden on my country...
23:46:22 – 23:50:16
which we will never get rid of.
23:51:05 – 23:58:01
Exactly therefore
it's incomprehensible and...
23:58:18 – 24:04:05
inexcusable how the
German government failed at the time.
24:06:06 – 24:09:11
In the international arms trade...
24:10:19 – 24:16:01
individuals from
private corporations...
24:16:02 – 24:19:13
made huge profits.
24:19:14 – 24:23:11
And always with the lame excuse:
24:23:12 – 24:26:06
If we don't deliver then others will.
24:26:07 – 24:28:18
Also the belittlers...
24:29:11 – 24:33:23
not willing to accept
that what supposedly was...
24:33:24 – 24:39:04
fabricated for the
production of agricultural fertilizers...
24:39:05 – 24:43:24
or for the extermination of insects...
24:44:00 – 24:49:05
was in fact a precursor
in the production of poison gas...
24:49:06 – 24:54:04
to be used against
the Kurds and the Iranian army.
25:22:14 – 25:24:17 - Gansel in German
It's unforgivable that...
25:24:18 – 25:28:02
the West German
government tolerated it...
25:28:03 – 25:31:13
by not tightening export controls...
25:31:14 – 25:34:11
when there was reason to do so...
25:34:12 – 25:38:01
because
Saddam Hussein used poison gas...
25:38:02 – 25:40:05
against the Iranians.
25:40:06 – 25:43:00
I recall a debate
in the West German parliament...
25:43:01 – 25:45:16
when Liberals
and Conservatives said:...
25:45:17 – 25:48:09
You are demanding sanctions!
25:48:10 – 25:51:08
Yes, why not? Of course!
25:54:18 – 25:57:04
Certainly at the latest…
25:57:05 – 26:01:01
when Saddam Hussein
started using poison gas...
26:01:02 – 26:04:20
it should have given
international sanctions.
26:04:21 – 26:07:14
Everybody did
business with Saddam Hussein.
26:07:19 – 26:09:08
It paid well…
26:09:13 – 26:11:08
and he provided oil.
26:15:18 – 26:20:08
To those responsible
in the large companies...
26:21:00 – 26:26:16
it was often unclear that
they had blood on their hands.
26:27:03 – 26:30:07
And blood can't be washed off.
26:31:10 – 26:34:00
Neither can poison gas.
26:42:05 – 26:42:05 - Rezaie in Farsi
We often discussed....
26:44:16 – 26:49:08
why the international community
did nothing against this.
26:51:00 – 26:54:09
At first we thought they
had no information.
26:55:09 – 26:58:05
So our friends in the government...
26:58:13 – 27:01:15
went to the international bodies...
27:02:03 – 27:04:18
and gave them information.
27:05:08 – 27:06:18
And…
27:07:24 – 27:11:23
we brought many
international journalists and reporters...
27:11:24 – 27:14:12
to our hospitals...
27:14:13 - 27:18:23
and showed them
chemically injured patients.
27:18:22 – 27:20:19
We asked them…
27:20:20 – 27:22:16
to reflect this news.
27:22:17 – 27:25:19
Tell the world
that we were attacked...
27:25:20 – 27:28:10
with chemical grenades and bombs.
27:28:11 – 27:30:22
We thought if this information...
27:30:23 – 27:34:12
reaches the international
organisations they will certainly react.
27:34:13 – 27:38:02
But except for
a few newspaper articles...
27:38:10 – 27:41:14
we did not see
any international reaction.
27:42:16 – 27:44:19
We felt that…
27:44:20 – 27:48:24
the European countries,
the US and the Soviet Union...
27:49:00 – 27:51:22
had collectively decided...
27:51:23 – 27:55:14
to prevent
the spreading of this news.
28:35:00 – 28: 38:14 - P. de Cuellar in English but with subtitles
The very important countries,
members of the Security Council...
28:38:15 – 28:42:14
provided arms to the Iraqi's.
28:41:15 – 28:45:21
I know. I have no evidence,
I can't say it was that way...
28:44:22 – 28:48:18
But that's what everybody thought.
28:48:19 – 28:53:02
That the Americans, the French,
the Germans and the English...
28:53:03 – 28:56:13
provided arms to the Iraqi's.
28:56:14 – 29:00:22
They closed their eyes
because they were interested...
29:01:06 – 29:04:19
in the fact that
the Iranians don't win the war.
30:40:18 – 30:47:19 - Rafsanjani in Farsi
We filed complaints with
all the international bodies.
30:47:20 – 30:54:20
And we even took our
patients to European hospitals...
30:55:07 – 30:59:07
where journalists
came to see them.
31:46:12 – 31:50”05 - Gansel in German
Even when injured Iranian soldiers...
31:50:06 – 31:53:00
who were clearly
contaminated by poison gas...
31:53:01 – 31:58:02
were treated in
German hospitals in the mid-80's...
32:02:04 – 32:07:15
the West German
government and society looked away.
32:07:19 – 32:09:15
Also the media.
32:09:24 – 32:14:09
Very few media actualized it. Very few.
32:15:06 – 32:19:18 - Rafsanjani in Farsi
The Iranian people
were very disappointed...
32:20:14 – 32:24:21
that the international conscience...
32:25:20 -32:31:03
did not react to such a big crime.
33:32:08 – 33:37_14 - P. de Cuellar in English but with subtitles
When the Iranians
for the first time came to me to tell me...
33:37:15 – 33:41:03
that the Iraqis were
using chemical weapons...
33:41:04 – 33:47:00
I set up a group of experts
on chemical weapons
33:47:01 – 33:48:16
Europeans.
34:46:08 – 34:48:18 - P. de Cuellar in English but with subtitles
They produced a report...
34:48:19 – 34:51:10
which was really very clear:
34:51:11 – 34:55:20
In this part of the country
they have used chemical weapons.
34:56:07 – 34:58:15
Because they were experts
and knew the way.
34:59:00 – 35:03:02
And then it was really
a very sad thing to see.
35:04:20 – 35:07:15
The degree of…
35:09:17 – 35:13:05
the way in which this people suffered...
35:14:03 – 35:16:03
from this chemical weapons.
35:11:09 – 35:18:06
It was really horrible to see.
35:26:02 – 35:28:21
At the end
it was very clear to everybody...
35:32:04 – 35:32:03
even to the Iraqis, that they
have used chemical weapons.
35:27:09 – 35:34:22
But they were not condemned
by the United Nations for it.
35:34:23 – 35:39:01
They were not
condemned by the UN. No...no.
35:39:02 – 35:41:18
I don't remember they were condemned.
- Why not?
35:41:19 – 35:43:04
I don’t know.
35:43:05 – 35:46:09
I think it is for you
to go to the United States...
35:46:10 – 35:48:22
the United Kingdom,
France and Germany and so on...
35:48:23 – 35:51:04
and ask them:
Why you didn't?
35:51:05 – 35:53:23
But what I can tell you
is that they didn't.
35:55:03 – 35:58:14 - Rafsanjani in Farsi
Because the UN is under control...
35:58:15 – 36:04:22
of the powers that were
behind this crime and supported it:
36:04:23 – 36:09:09
the Russians, the US and Europe.
38:41:17 – 38:47:13 - Rafighdoust in Farsi
We asked the late imam Khomeini...
38:47:22 – 38:51:16
if we should retaliate in kind.
38:51:17 – 38:55:22
No, he said, this is inhumane,
just defend yourself.
38:56:13 – 39:00:08
Don't produce chemical weapons.
39:00:09 – 39:05:03
Because our religion
demanded that we followed him...
39:05:04 – 39:08:08
we put all our efforts in the defense...
39:08:09 – 39:11:14
instead of producing chemical weapons...
39:11:15 – 39:14:16
and do the same that Iraq did to us.
39:59:06 – 40:02:24 - caption, fade in, fade out
Sardasht
West Iran
40:20:13 – 40:25:23 - caption, fade in, fade out
casualties:
130 dead
8000 contaminated
& chronically ill
40:53:23 – 40:57:02 - chemical victim in Farsi
These are the graves of my family.
40:57:13 – 41:02:06
There is my father.
And there is my brother.
40:59:20 – 41:04:14 - caption, fade in, fade out
Mostafa Asadzadeh
chemical victim
41:02:07 – 41:03:15
He was 17.
41:04:06 – 41:08:03
My father's mother.
She was 60.
41:08:04 – 41:10:23
My own mother, 45 years.
41:10:24 – 41:13:17
My brother, 15 years.
41:14:08 – 41:16:20
Down there is my sister, 4 years.
41:17:01 – 41:20:17
Between those two graves
is my 2 years old little brother.
41:28:00 – 41:32:06
A chemical bomb
hit 6-7 meters from our home.
41:32:07 – 41:36:22
One of my sisters
was at home during the bombardment.
41:36:23 – 41:39:17
The rest of my family was outside.
41:39:18 – 41:42:12
They heard that our
neighborhood had been bombarded...
41:42:13 - 41:45:13
and took refuge in our cellar.
41:45:14 – 41:48:13
Because the gas was heavy it sank down.
41:48:14 – 41:54:22
40 people from our quarter
who had come to hide there...
41:54:23 - 42:01:22
died because the gas
was heavier than air.
42:24:04 -42:28:08
Honestly, I could not enjoy my life...
42:28:09 – 42:31:21
because in the beginning
of my life, at the age of 21...
42:31:22 – 42:35:04
I was confronted
with such a shocking event.
42:35:05 – 42:37:08
My spirit had died.
42:37:09 – 42:40:02
I function normally…
42:40:03 -42:43:00
but I have no inner balance.
43:49:13 – 43:56:02 - chemical victim in Farsi
In 1987 Iraqi airplanes
attacked our village near Baneh.
43:50:13 – 43:56:13 - caption, fade in, fade out
Khalil & Cheimen Saiedpour
chemical victims