Brigadier General Mir-Faisal Baqerzadeh has announced the release of documents detailing the use of chemical weapons against Iranian armed forces and civilians by Saddam HusseinÂ’s Baathist regime during the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war. Baqerzadeh, who is also the director of the Foundation for the Preservation and Publication of Sacred Defense Works and Values, made the announcement during a press conference here on Saturday.
In order to inform all generations about the details of the war, the foundation plans to gradually reveal the facts to prevent a falsification of history, he explained.
Since Iran was not given the opportunity to file legal complaints against Saddam during the special tribunal that tried the former dictator, the foundation is releasing the documents to shed light on the issue and for the historical record, he added. He went on to say that the the documents prove that Saddam used chemical weapons against Iranian forces.
According to a letter dated July 29, 1982, Brigadier General Taleh Khalili Arhim, who at the time was the chairman of IraqÂ’s command headquarters, informed the Iraqi Air Force commander about his concerns about Iranian forcesÂ’ attacks and called for extensive chemical weapons attacks against Iran, Baqerzadeh said. Lieutenant General Hamid Shabban Khazir took the proposal to Saddam, and the former Iraqi president approved it, Baqerzadeh said. According to this document, Hamid Shabban Khazir and Taleh Khalili Arhim are war criminals who should be brought to justice in an international court.
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