Iran continues anti-chemical arms bids

A top Iranian envoy says Tehran continues to seek the prosecution of countries that supplied chemical arms to Iraq in the 1980s.

Iran is building its case against countries and individuals that supplied Iraq with chemical weapons during the eight years of war imposed on Iran “through legal channels”.

Iran has always asked the international community to “bring to justice and punish” the Western countries and companies which were involved in supplying the former Iraqi regime with chemical arms, Iranian Ambassador to the Netherlands Kazem Gharibabadi was quoted by Fars News Agency as saying on Tuesday.

He also referred to the trial and conviction of Dutch businessman Frans van Anraat who sold raw materials for the production of chemical weapons to Iraq.

“In this connection, fortunately, Dutch businessman Frans van Anraat who was arrested in 2005 was tried and convicted, and the case on getting reparation from him is being reviewed in another court in the Netherlands,” said the Iranian ambassador, who is also Vice-Chairman of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) Executive Council.

He then noted that April 29, 2012, the deadline for the signatories to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) to dismantle all their nuclear arsenals, is approaching.

“Destruction of chemical weapons before the deadline expires is the main objective of the CWC and the OPCW,” Gharibabadi said.

The CWC is an arms control agreement administered by OPCW which outlaws the production, stockpiling and use of chemical weapons.