Mine ban policy overview

Policy

The Islamic Republic of Iran has not acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty. It has cited its perceived need for antipersonnel mines on its borders as the main reason for not joining the treaty.[1]

Iran is not known to have made any statements about its mine ban policy in 2010 or 2011. In explaining its vote on the annual pro-ban UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolution in 2008, it stated that it “shares the humanitarian concerns,” and welcomes “every effort to stop this trend” of irresponsible use of mines. It continued, “The Ottawa Convention, however, focuses mainly on humanitarian concerns while neglecting or not adequately taking into account legitimate military requirements of many countries, particularly those with long land borders, for the use of APLs [antipersonnel landmines] in defending their territories. Due to the difficulties of monitoring sensitive extensive areas by established and permanent guarding posts of effective warning systems, landmines continue to be the effective means, for those countries, to ensure the minimum security requirement of their borders.”[2]

Iran did not attend any international meeting on the mine ban in 2010 or the first half of 2011.

Iran is not party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW).[3] Iran participated in the CCW meetings in November 2010 as an observer and made a statement. It said that “we are hopeful that we might be in apposition [sic] to find some incentives in the framework of international humanitarian cooperation within this convention to start our efforts to be one of the parties to this convention and relevant protocols.”[4] 

Production, transfer, stockpiling, and use

The director of the Islamic Republic of Iran Mine Action Center (IRMAC) told the Monitor in August 2005 that Iran neither uses nor produces mines.[5] In September 2002, the Ministry of Defense declared, “The Islamic Republic of Iran, since the termination of its war [1988], has not produced anti-personnel mines.”[6] The Monitor received information in 2002, 2003, and 2004 that demining organizations in Afghanistan were removing and destroying many hundreds of Iranian YM-I and YM-I-B antipersonnel mines, date stamped 1999 and 2000, from abandoned Northern Alliance frontlines.[7]

Iran is thought to have a large stockpile of antipersonnel mines, but no official information is available on its size and composition.

Iran exported a significant number of antipersonnel mines in the 1990s and earlier. An export moratorium was instituted in 1997, but it is not known if it is still formally in effect. In February 2006, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated, “It has been several years since Iran voluntarily halted export of anti-personnel mines.”[8]

Despite these government statements, there is evidence that Iran has both produced and exported antipersonnel mines in the past decade. Iranian antipersonnel mines have been seized in Afghanistan in 2008, [9] Tajikistan in 2007,[10] and Somalia in 2006.[11] The Monitor addressed a letter to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 27 April 2011 to inquire on these matters, but as of August 2011, it had yet to receive a response.

Six Iranian Kurdish armed groups have pledged not to use antipersonnel mines by signing the Geneva Call Deed of Commitment, including the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI) in December 2007 and three factions of the Komala Party in April and June 2009—the Kurdistan Organization of the Communist Party of Iran, the Komala Party of Kurdistan, and the Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan—as well as the Kurdistan Democratic Party-Iran (KDP) and the Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK) and its armed wing the Liberation Forces of Eastern Kurdistan, in April 2010. The three factions of the Komala Party stated that they had used antipersonnel mines sporadically in the past.[12]

In July 2011, Iran reportedly blamed PJAK for laying an antivehicle mine resulting in the death of six Islamic Revolutionary Guards on patrol in the Alvatan region near the Kurdish city of Sardasht bordering Iraq.[13]

The Islamic Republic of Iran has not acceded to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

Iran did not participate in the Oslo Process that created the convention and has never attended a meeting on cluster munitions or made a public statement on the issue. 

Iran is not party to the Mine Ban Treaty or the Convention on Conventional Weapons.

Iran is not known to have used cluster munitions, but has a stockpile. It has imported cluster munitions and may have produced them.

Jane’s Information Group lists Iran as possessing KMG-U dispensers that deploy submunitions, PROSAB-250 cluster bombs, and BL-755 cluster bombs.[1] Media reports indicate that in November 2006 it tested a domestically produced version of the Shahab-2 missile capable of delivering 1,400 bomblets.[2]

Additionally, Iran possesses Grad 122mm surface-to-surface rockets as well as a number of types of 122mm, 240mm, and 333mm rockets it produces, but it is not known if these include versions with submunition payloads.[3]

According to one source, Iraq used air-dropped cluster bombs against Iranian troops in 1984 during the Iran-Iraq war.[4]

According to a United States (US) Navy document, on 18 April 1988, US Navy aircraft attacked Iranian Revolutionary Guard speedboats and an Iranian Navy ship with 18 Mk-20 Rockeye bombs during Operation Praying Mantis.[5]

Contamination and Impact

Mines

Iran has been significantly contaminated with mines, primarily as a result of the 1980–1988 conflict with Iraq, affecting particularly the western provinces of Ilam, Kermanshah, Khuzestan, Kurdistan, and West Azerbaijan. The Iranian Minister of Defense, Mostafa Mohammad Najjar, stated in April 2009 that Iran was one of the most contaminated countries in the world;[1] however, no credible estimates exist for the extent of contamination remaining and the socio-economic impact is poorly understood. The extent of contamination in areas bordering Afghanistan and Pakistan is also not known.

Cluster munition remnants and other explosive remnants of war

Significant contamination from explosive remnants of war (ERW) is suspected in Iran, which is believed to contain cluster munition remnants.[2] The precise nature and extent of contamination, though, is not known.

Mine Action Program

Key institutions and operators

Iran has a national mine action authority and national mine action center. The National Mine Action Council (NMAC) was established in 2003 by the government, although its legislative basis is not known. NMAC established the Islamic Republic of Iran Mine Action Center (IRMAC),[3] which has five regional offices (one in each of the five contaminated western provinces)[4] to which it is said to have delegated full authority to implement and coordinate mine action activities.[5] Media reports say the Ministry of Interior decides which areas are cleared and then assigns the task to military engineers.[6]

Land Release

In February 2007, the Minister of Defense reportedly declared that a 40-year timetable for mine clearance was being reduced to five years. He further noted that, “In view of the president’s special attention to this matter, the ministry has given priority to mine clearance operations.”[7] Iran has not, however, reported on its recent land release efforts and it is not known if this reported deadline will be met.

In 2009, Iran’s demining capacity was said to consist primarily of engineer units of the Iranian army, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, and 50 private companies.[8]

In April 2010, the Iranian Minister of Defense stated that Iran was ready to cooperate with other countries in demining former war zones that still need to be cleared of mines.[9]

Safety of demining personnel

IRMAC reported 158 mine/ERW casualties in five western provinces bordering Iraq during 1389 (the Iranian year running from March 2010 to March 2011). These included 47 deminers of whom 12 were killed and 35 injured. In Ilam province alone, IRMAC reported that four deminers were killed and 20 injured.[10]

A media report from Iran said lack of discipline among deminers, non-adherence to standards, and weak quality control all contributed to Iran’s high level of deminer casualties. The report said there was no risk education for civilians, which also contributed to deaths and casualties.[11]

Casualties Overview

For 2010, the Islamic Republic of Iran Mine Action Center (IRMAC) reported 158 antipersonnel mine casualties of which 33 people were killed and 125 were injured. Demining accidents caused 47 casualties (12 killed; 35 injured), or nearly 30% of the total; the remaining casualties were all civilians. Most (145) of the casualties were male; just 13 female casualties were reported. It was not reported how many casualties were children.

Casualties were recorded in five of Iran’s 31 provinces, all of which border Iraq. Khuzestan province had the highest number of casualties at 68, or 43% of all casualties. Illam province recorded the highest number of deminer casualties at 24; no civilian casualties were recorded in Illam. There were also a significant number of deminer casualties (17) in West Azerbaijan province.[1]

It was not possible to determine trends due to the variable quality of data available. For 2009, IRMAC casualty data was not available and just 17 casualties were identified through media reports.[2] For 2008, however, the Monitor identified 87 casualties, including 75 reported by IRMAC—slightly less than half the number that IRMAC reported for 2010.[3]

The total number of mine/explosive remnants of war (ERW) casualties in Iran is unknown. The Ministry of Interior (MOI) recorded 6,765 casualties (2,840 killed; 3,925 injured) from 1988–2004 and the UN reported that there had been approximately 10,000 casualties as of 2006.[4]

As of June 2011, IRMAC was working to develop a single, comprehensive database of mine/ERW casualties, compiling information available from a variety of national Ministries and Foundations, such as the MOI, the Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs (FMVA), and the Imam Khomeini Relief Foundation (IKRF), as well as from local authorities and NGOs working in mine affected provinces.[5]

Victim Assistance

The total number of survivors in Iran is unknown but is estimated to be at least 6,000.[6]

Assessing victim assistance needs

There were no victim assistance needs assessments carried out in 2010. However, the Janbazan Medical and Engineering Research Center (JMERC) continued to share the results of the 2009 quality of life assessment of 345 mine/ERW survivors from five western provinces who were injured between 1988 and 2003 with relevant government authorities. These included provincial offices of state foundations that provide support to mine/ERW victims in mine affected provinces.[7]

In 2010, as in the previous year, JMERC, with FMVA, met with child mine/ERW survivors who had been identified through the quality of life assessment to have their cases examined individually and refer them to services.[8] In March 2011 planning was underway to hold another workshop to provide similar treatment to some 186 women identified through the assessment.[9]

Victim assistance coordination[10]

The MOI is responsible for coordinating and monitoring victim assistance for all civilian survivors. Survivors or their family members must report the mine incident to the MOI office in their province to register and receive services as war victims. If the war victim status is granted to the applicant by a parliamentary commission, they are referred to the FMVA for assistance.[11] About 80% of applicants are approved for war victim status.[12]

The Department of Martyrs and Veterans, within IRMAC, is responsible for the coordination for assistance to deminers that are injured or killed as a result of a demining accident.  The Ministry of Defense monitors the provision of victim assistance to deminers.[13]

No information was reported regarding the inclusion of survivors in victim assistance planning and coordination or in the implementation of services.

Service accessibility and effectiveness

Victim assistance activities in 2010[14]

Very few changes were reported in the quality or accessibility of victim assistance services in Iran. As in previous years, medical care and physical rehabilitation services continued to be generally available for registered mine/ERW survivors through government-supported health services and the IRCS’s network of physical rehabilitation centers. However Iran continued to lack services to address survivors’ psychosocial and economic reintegration needs.[15] In 2010, an amendment to the law governing the eligibility of mine/ERW victims to receive assistance through the FMVA was approved. This ensures that all state registered victims, including family members of victims, were eligible.[16] However, it was estimated that some 20% of mine/ERW survivors were not granted war victim status and thus were not eligible for services and support from FMVA.[17] Survivors unable to receive services through FMVA could access assistance through IKRF and SWO.[18]

In 2010, JMERC and FMVA, with ICRC support, facilitated better access to appropriate specialized medical attention to another 37 child survivors, bringing the total number of child beneficiaries receiving special assistance to over 80.[19] JMERC revised medical treatment protocols to improve the quality of care based on feedback from survivors.

As in previous years, IRMAC provided emergency transport and facilitated emergency medical attention, physical rehabilitation services, and economic reintegration to deminer casualties and referred injured deminers to the FMVA for ongoing medical and other care. Deminers were also covered through occupational and health insurance.[20]

The IRCS continued to provide psychological and social support to women affected by the war, including mine survivors and family members of survivors.[21]

No information was available on economic inclusion initiatives for mine survivors in 2010. The 2009 JMERC survivor assessment found that just 12% of respondents were employed.[22] Vocational training opportunities for persons with disabilities were centralized in urban areas and were unable to meet the needs of the population.[23]

Discrimination of persons with disabilities is prohibited by law in Iran. In 2010, a lack of accessibility to buildings remained a widespread problem for persons with disabilities.[24]

Iran ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on 23 October 2009.