Narrated by witnesses

Oral History of Sardasht’s Chemical Bombardment

Marjan Mehdipour
Translated by: Fazel Shirzad

2018-8-29

Sardasht[1] is located in the northwest of Iran, which leads west to Iraq and is 30 kilometers away from this country. The Kurdish border with historical backgrounds and attractive places suffered great damage during the war of Saddam's army against Iran, but the most notably one was chemical bombardment of the city on Tir 7, 1366 (June 28, 1987). The university research of Mrs. Rizan Hekmat in the field of history directed by Dr. Alireza Mullaei Tavani leads to publish book named "Oral History of Sardasht’s Chemical Bombardment ". This book was published in 1396 (2017) with 480 pages, by the publication of Institute of Humanities and Cultural Studies.

The book consists of 19 chapters that begin with a 9-page introduction. Alireza Mullaei Tavani, in this introduction, introduces several published books about Sardasht and also the incidents of this city during the imposed war.

In the first chapter, in addition to introduce Sardasht, the reader become familiar with the etymological, geographical, historical and natural attractions of the city. It also refers to the history of Sardasht in ancient and contemporary times.

The readers in the second chapter become familiar with a variety of chemical weapons. It also refers to the history and consequences of the use of chemical weapons and mass killings. This chapter introduces the most famous international treaties on the non-use of chemical weapons, including "Geneva Protocol in 1925". The treaty was based on the ban on the use of this tool, but the big problem was that this agreement did not prohibit the development, production and accumulation of chemical and microbial weapons. In the continuance of the study, Chapter three deals with the chemical attacks of Saddam’s Army against Iran and these attacks are divided into three parts: 1-Trial Attack: Day 1359 (December 1980) to Tir 1362 (June 1983). 2- Limited attacks: Moradad 1363 (july1984) to Bahman 1362(January 1984). 3- Broad attacks: from Esfand 1362(February 1984) to the end of the war.

The first report on the use of chemical weapons in the Iraq's war against Iran was in the Hellaleh and Neikhzar in areas Mimak in Day 23, 1359 (January13, 1984). These attacks began seriously in Mordad 1362(August 1985) and included Iran from the west to the south. The chemical bombardment of residential areas of Iran by Saddam’s Army and the response of UN are ones that mentioned in Chapter three.

The fourth chapter refers to the situation in Sardasht during the imposed war and the main places of chemical bombardment of the city. Symptoms of mustard gas are introduced in this topic. The reason for the bombardment of this city, the statistics of martyrs and injured, the discovery of unexploded chemical bombs, and detailed information about this bombardment, mentioned in this chapter in short, Then, the formation of a society for the Defense of Rights of Sardasht’s Chemical Injuries in 1381(2002) is mentioned and its objectives are also introduced.

The fifth chapter, in fact, is about Mrs. Rizan Hekmat's memories of how to begin this research and continue. Her acquaintance with the Society for the Defense of the Rights of Sardasht’s Chemical Injuries caused her to see a large number of pictures of bombardments and interview with a number of survivors of this bombardment, especially women. The author searches for active Sardasht’s government agencies and institutions during chemical bombardment and talks to the survivors, even she interviewed with a doctor at the scene of bombardment and also pay attention on various groups of people.

In sixth chapter, a brief biography of the interviewees is mentioned, including Saleh Azizpour Aghdam, National Bank's employee, Hussein Mohammadian, Ministry of Agriculture's employee, Jalal Hassanpour shopkeeper, Sabri Salemi, housewife, and etc.

The researcher in chapter seven writes about the reaction of Sardasht’s people during the bombardment of the city. Because people were not familiar with this type of bombardment, they went to shelters like previous ones; therefore, because chemical and toxic gases were heavier than the air and penetrated into the sanctuaries and basements and the lower floors of houses, and many of people were injured and killed for this unawareness. The results of this lack of awareness led to an increase in the number of martyrs and injured. In chapter eight, this issue is cited in interviews with survivors. Since the effects of toxic gas appear a few hours later, the lack of awareness of this issue caused the late evacuation of the city; and it increased the number of martyrs and veterans. So, some went to highlands, some bank of river and some to the surrounding villages, but some people remained in the city. Description of the events after the bombardment in this chapter is narrated by the witnesses.

Since the government had informed people about the possibility of chemical bombardment, a shelter was built for the warriors in the city, but the prediction of chemical bombardment of residential areas was far from the mind, and as a result, the shelters had not enough space for the injured. In chapter ten, the tactics, facilities and first necessary aids after the bombardment of Sardasht is quoted by the injured. In the early days of war, it was same for all how to cure the injured, and the injections of ampoules and serum, and the use of ointment was the only way to cure. ), in an interview with researcher, Rahim Ali Dost who wasof the city's businessmen said: "When I arrived at the hospital, I saw, like leaf of trees, everywhere was full of injured people" (p. 229).

A chemical bombs in Sardasht consisted of Sulfur Mustard gas or mustard gas, which caused many physical and psychological damage to the people of this city. Of course, the injuries were different in nature and severity. The eleventh chapter explains and interprets these complications narrated by the injured and the witnesses. In this chapter and twelfth chapter, the reader faces the bitter facts of this event. The effect of mustard gas is such that the number of martyrs is less than the injured and most of those who were close to the site of the bomb attack or were severely injured were martyred and a high percentage of people were injured. The thirteenth chapter also examined the casualties caused by Sardasht’s chemical bombardment, resulting in the martyrdom of about 130 people from 12,000 ones living in the city, and lots of people were injured.

This research shows that Saddam Army's reasons for choosing Sardasht for chemical bombardment is unknown, and considers the mentioned issues as arbitrary analyzes that are not based on historical causes. In chapter fourteen, some of these reasons are quoted from different people's narration.

The fifteenth chapter discussed about high pollution of the environment caused by the bombardment. Subsequently, in the sixteenth chapter, the long-term effects of the dispersed chemical gas in Sardasht were discussed. Also, the negative effects on food in this area are discussed in chapter seven, which narrated by interviewees that all the remaining food was burned.

Some poems about this event mentioned in chapter eighteen. In the last chapter, the expectations of the injured are addressed to the government, because these veterans need medical services, and so far they have suffered a lot of pains.

At the end of the book, after summarizing and evaluating this research, a list of sources and references are mentioned. The appendices of the book include a collection of images of the victims of this event and the severity of their damage, and a series of newspapers in the year 1366(1987), including Sardasht’s chemical bombardment and several tables. These tables are about chemical factors, the statistics of chemical attacks on Sardasht and their impact on the environment, and the last table is devoted to interviewees, including the date and place of the interview.

In general, this book is a complete study of chemical bombardment of Sardasht by Saddam Army and based on interviews with witnesses and veterans of the event that has a special place in the oral history method. The author pay attention on various people and gain general results from these interviews. In fact, the reader is confronted with facts about the war of Saddam's army against Iran.