Iran compiling WWII damages evidence

Iran has so far compiled more than four thousand documents on the damages inflicted on the Iranian nation during the Second World War, an official says.

Vice-President for Parliamentary Affairs Mohammad-Reza Mir-Tajeddini said Wednesday that Iran sought to demand compensation since it sustained heavy damages despite its neutrality in the war.

Iran had declared its neutrality at the very start of the war but it was invaded by certain countries under the pretext that several German nationals were in the country, the official said,

According to Mir-Tajeddini, the invasion was a violation of the Iranian nation’s rights and thus had to be investigated.

“More than 4,000 documents have been prepared and we are compiling more on the issue,” he went on to say.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had earlier called for the need to demand reparations from the West for the damages inflicted on Iran during the World War that raged between 1939 and 1945.

The Iranian chief executive tasked a compensation commission consisting of representatives from several ministries and organizations to estimate the amount of damage.

Despite declaring its impartiality at the outbreak of the war, Iran was invaded by both Britain and the Soviet Union on August 26, 1941 in Operation Countenance.

Iran served as a source of oil and a transit route for American war materials to the Soviet Union.

The effects of the war, however, were catastrophic for the ordinary citizens of Iran. Food and other essential items were scarce and severe inflation imposed great hardship on the lower and middle classes as the needs of foreign troops were prioritized.