Iran
Mine Ban Policy
Mine ban policy overview
|
Mine Ban Treaty status |
Not a State Party |
|
Pro-mine ban UNGA voting record |
Abstained on Resolution 65/48 in December 2010 |
|
Participation in Mine Ban Treaty meetings |
Did not attend the Tenth Meeting of States Parties in Geneva in November–December 2010, or the intersessional meetings in June 2011 |
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]
[1] In a February 2006 letter to the Monitor, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated, “Due to our expansive borders and problems resulting from narcotics and terrorist trafficking, our defense institutions are considering the use of landmines as a defensive mechanism.”
[2] Delegation of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Explanation of Vote on the Draft Resolution L.6, UNGA First Committee, New York, 29 October 2008.
[3] Iran told the Monitor it has “announced its support for the regulations stipulated in the second protocol of this convention regarding the method of utilizing antipersonnel landmines.” Letter to the Monitor (Human Rights Watch), 1 February 2006, transmitting the response of the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
[4] Statement by Dr. Mohammad Hassan Daryaei, Counselor, Permanent Mission of Iran in Geneva, CCW Group of Governmental Experts on Cluster Munitions, Geneva, 24 November 2010.
[5] Interview with Hossein Vaziri, IRMAC, Tehran, 28 August 2005. He did not state when Iran allegedly stopped using and producing mines, nor if there is a formal policy or law prohibiting use and production. Iran has manufactured several types of antipersonnel mines, including the YM-I, Mk. 4, and a Claymore-type mine.
[6] Letter to the Monitor from the Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the UN in New York, 6 September 2002.
[7] Information provided to the Monitor and the ICBL by HALO Trust, Danish Demining Group, and other demining groups in Afghanistan. Iranian antipersonnel and antivehicle mines were also part of a shipment seized by Israel in January 2002 off the coast of the Gaza Strip.
[8] Letter to the Monitor (Human Rights Watch), 1 February 2006, transmitting the response of the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
[9] One report cites 113 mines recovered, including 50 antipersonnel mines. “Landmine deport smuggled from Iran discovered,” Pajhwok Afghan News, 25 January 2008. See also “Iranian Land Mines Found in Taliban Commander’s House,” Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), 25 January 2008.
[10] Tajikistan Article 7 Report, Form B2, 3 February 2008.
[11] “Report of the Monitoring Group on Somalia pursuant to Security Council resolution 1676 (2006),” S/2006/913, 22 November 2006, p. 62.
[12] Geneva Call, “The Komalah–the Kurdistan Organization of the Communist Party of Iran and the Komala Party of Kurdistan Prohibit the Use of Anti-Personnel Mines,” Press release, 7 April 2009, Geneva, www.genevacall.org; Geneva Call, “The Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan Prohibits the Use of Anti-Personnel Mines,” Press release, 16 June 2009, Geneva, www.genevacall.org; and Geneva Call, “The Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan Prohibits the Use of Anti-Personnel Mines,” Press release, 5 December 2007, Geneva, www.genevacall.org. Previously, the Monitor had not identified any Kurdish armed group in Iran as a mine user. However the PDKI destroyed a stockpile of 392 antipersonnel mines in August 2008. Geneva Call, “Communiqué: Iranian Kurdish Organizations Prohibit the Use of Anti-Personnel Mines,” 21 April 2010. The KDP is a split off faction of the PDKI, and PJAK is affiliated with the Kurdish Workers Party of Turkey. Geneva Call informed the Monitor that the KDP stated that it had not used mines after it split from the PDKI in 2006. The PJAK stated that it has never used antipersonnel mines. Both groups told Geneva Call that they are investigating whether their armed wings possess any antipersonnel mines.
[13] “6 IRGC troops killed in landmine explosion in northwest of Iran,” Shanghai Daily (Xinhua Tehran) 22 July 2011, www.shanghaidaily.com.
Cluster Munition Ban Policy
The Islamic Republic of Iran has not acceded to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.
In a September 2011 statement to the Second Meeting of States Parties of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, Iran said, “We commend and support all efforts made to save civilians however it goes without saying that in order to be effective a convention regulating aspects of cluster munitions should include the major producers and former users of these munitions.” Iran added that “in order for such an instrument to be universal” it should be concluded “within the framework of the United Nations.”[1]
Iran did not participate in the Oslo Process that created the convention. It did not attend a meeting of the convention until September 2011, when it participated as an observer in the convention’s Second Meeting of States Parties in Beirut and made a statement focused on the challenges faced by countries contaminated by cluster munition remnants.
Iran is not party to the Mine Ban Treaty. It is not a party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons.
Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling
Iran is not known to have used cluster munitions. 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.[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]
In September 2011, Iran stated that it is contaminated by cluster munitions used during the Iran-Iraq War.[4] According to one source, Iraq used air-dropped cluster bombs against Iranian troops in 1984 during the war.[5]
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.[6]
[1] Statement by Gholamhossein Dehghani, Director General for Political International Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iran, Convention on Cluster Munitions, Second Meeting of States Parties, Geneva, 12 September 2011.
[2] Robert Hewson, ed., Jane’s Air-Launched Weapons, Issue 44 (Surrey, UK: Jane’s Information Group Limited, 2004), p. 840.
[3] International Institute for Strategic Studies, The Military Balance 2011 (London: Routledge, 2011), p. 309; Colin King, ed., Jane’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal 2007–2008, CD-edition, 15 January 2008, (Surrey, UK: Jane’s Information Group Limited, 2008).
[4] Statement by Dehghani, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iran, Convention on Cluster Munitions, Second Meeting of States Parties, Geneva, 12 September 2011.
[5] Anthony H. Cordesman and Abraham R. Wagner, Lessons of Modern War Volume II: The Iran-Iraq War (Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press, 1990), p. 210. The bombs were reportedly produced by Chile.
[6] Memorandum from the Commanding Officer of the USS Enterprise (CVN-65) to the Director of Naval History (OP-09BH), “1988 Command History,” 27 February 1989, p. 20.
Mine Action
Contamination and Impact
Iran has said it is one of the most mine-contaminated countries in the world, largely as a result of the 1980−1988 war with Iraq which also left contamination by cluster munitions and other explosive remnants of war (ERW).[1]
Mines
Iran has reported that an estimated 20 million mines were placed during the 1980–1988 conflict with Iraq, affecting around 42,000km, three-quarters of it in the western provinces of Ilam (17,000km² or 40%) and Khuzestan (15,000 or 36%) as well as in Kermanshah (17%), Kurdistan (3%), and West Azerbaijan (4%).[2] Some mine contamination is also believed to affect eastern provinces bordering Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The Iran Mine Action Centre (IRMAC) has reported that the area of mine contamination fell to 12,532km² in 2003 and in 2011 totaled 692km², including 429km² in Ilam, 162km² in Khuzestan, and the rest in Kermanshah (95km²), West Azerbaijan (4km²) and Kurdistan (2km²).[3] The extent of contamination in areas bordering Afghanistan and Pakistan is not reported.
IRMAC reports that in addition to inflicting casualties on the civilian population of these areas, mine contamination has proved a major constraint on socio-economic development, interfering with access to large amounts of arable and grazing land and social services as well as impeding the exploitation of underground hydrocarbon resources.[4]
Cluster munition remnants and other explosive remnants of war
The precise nature and extent of Iran’s ERW contamination is not known. Significant contamination is suspected in Iran, which is believed to contain cluster munition remnants.[5]
A large explosion occurred at a Revolutionary Guards weapons and ammunition depot 40km west of Tehran in November 2011, but it was not reported if unexploded ordnance contamination of surrounding areas resulted.[6]
Mine action program
Key institutions and operators
|
Body |
Situation on 1 January 2012 |
|
National Mine Action Authority |
National Mine Action Council |
|
Mine action center |
Islamic Republic of Iran Mine Action Center |
|
International demining operators |
None |
|
National demining operators |
Iranian Army |
Iran assigned responsibility for mine clearance to the Ministry of Defense in 2003 under Constitutional Law No. 138 and in 2005 President Ahmadinejad appointed the Minister of Defense as his special representative for mine action under “Internal Law” No. 19.[7] A National Mine Action Council (NMAC) was also reportedly established in 2003 by the government, although its legislative basis is not known.
NMAC established IRMAC,[8] which has five regional offices (one in each of the five contaminated western provinces)[9] that reportedly have been delegated full authority to implement and coordinate mine action activities.[10] The Ministry of Interior reportedly decides on mine action priorities and on which areas are cleared before assigning the task to military engineers.[11]
Iran signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD) in September 2011 under which GICHD may provide training on request by IRMAC.[12]
Land Release
Iran’s Defense Minister, Brigadier-General Ahmad Vahidi, was reported by Iranian media in May 2012 as saying Iran would complete mine clearance operations by the end of March 2013.[13] Iranian media also quoted Deputy Defense Minister for Engineering and Passive Defense, Brigadier-General Hossein Baqeri, as saying Iran would complete clearance of all “leftover mines and other explosive devices” by that date.[14] IRMAC has not responded to Landmine Monitor requests for information on mine action policy, plans, or progress.
In February 2007, the Minister of Defense reportedly declared that Iran would reduce a 40-year timetable for mine clearance to complete clearance by 2011, saying, “In view of the president’s special attention to this matter, the ministry has given priority to mine clearance operations.”[15]
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.[16]
Safety of demining personnel
IRMAC reported 158 mine and 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 four deminers were killed and 20 injured.[17]
In May 2012, Iran’s Defense Minister Brig.-Gen. Ahmad Vahidi reportedly said that 71 deminers had been killed and 408 seriously injured, but he did not specify in what period of time.[18] The head of the Iran Mine Action Center, Mohammad Hossein Amir-Ahmadi, said in April 2012 that 85 IRMAC staff had been killed while demining since the center was set up in 2006, according to Iranian media reports.[19]
A French media report from Iran in 2010 said lack of discipline among deminers, non-adherence to standards, and weak quality control all contributed to Iran’s high level of deminer casualties.[20]
Risk education
IRMAC says it is responsible for monitoring and supporting risk education in five western mine-affected provinces. It identifies its implementing partners as the ICRC, the Iranian Red Crescent Society, and local NGOs identified as Emdad Zeynabieh and Maaf.[21] In contrast, the 2010 French media report claimed there was no risk education being conducted for civilians, which also contributed to deaths and casualties.[22]
[1] The Iran Mine Action Centre (IRMAC) PowerPoint presentation, undated but 2012; and “Iran, Iraq Form Joint Demining Commission,” Fars News Agency (Tehran), 5 April 2009, www.english.farsnews.com.
[2] IRMAC PowerPoint presentation, undated but 2012.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Ibid.
[5] See, for example, Eddie Banks, “Demining in Iran,” Journal of Mine Action, Issue 9.2, February 2006, www.maic.jmu.edu.
[6] “Iran explosion at Tehran military base,” Daily Telegraph (London), 12 November 2011, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iran/8886172/Tehran-blast-at-military-base-kills-17.html.
[7] IRMAC PowerPoint presentation, undated but 2012.
[8] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Amir Hossein Saeedi, Director, IRMAC, 21 July 2009; and interview with Amir Hossein Saeedi, Tehran, 1 November 2008.
[9] Interview with Amir Hossein Saeedi, IRMAC, Tehran, 1 November 2008.
[10] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Amir Hossein Saeedi, IRMAC, 21 July 2009.
[11] IRMAC PowerPoint presentation, undated but 2012; “The price of oil for Iranian mine clearers,” France24 International News, 30 March 2010.
[12] “Iran, GICHD ink MoU on demining cooperation,” Islamic Republic News Agency, 21 September 2011, http://www.gichd.org/fileadmin/pdf/about_gichd/press/IRNA-Iran_and_GICHD_ink_MoU_on_demining_cooperation-21Sep11.pdf; and telephone interview with Faiz Paktian, Head, Standards, GICHD, 20 July 2012.
[13] “Iran to finish clearance of world most polluted area with land mines by early 2013, minister,” Islamic Republic News Agency, 7 May 2012, http://www.irna.ir/News/General/Iran-to-finish-clearance-of-world-most-polluted-area-with-land-mines-by-early-2013,-minister/80118250.
[14] “Iran to help neighbors clear up landmines,” Press TV, 22 November 2011, http://www.presstv.ir/detail/211490.html.
[15] “Iran to clear mines in border areas by 2011,” Fars News Agency (Tehran), 14 February 2007, www.english.farsnews.com.
[16] “Iran, Iraq Form Joint Demining Commission,” Fars News Agency (Tehran), 5 April 2009, http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=8801160693.
[17] Response to Monitor questions, received by email from Mohammad Hossein Amirahmadi, Director, IRMAC, 7 June 2011.
[18] “Iran to finish clearance of world most polluted area with land mines by early 2013, minister,” Islamic Republic News Agency, 7 May 2012, http://www.irna.ir/News/General/Iran-to-finish-clearance-of-world-most-polluted-area-with-land-mines-by-early-2013,-minister/80118250.
[19] “Iran respects all international demining treaties,” Press TV, 4 April 2012, http://civiliancontractors.wordpress.com/tag/iran-mine-action-center/.
[20] “The price of oil for Iranian mine clearers,” France24 International News, 30 March 2010, http://observers.france24.com/content/20100330-iran-landmine-clearer-deaths-oil-interests.
[21] IRMAC PowerPoint presentation, undated but 2012.
[22] “The price of oil for Iranian mine clearers,” France24 International News, 30 March 2010, http://observers.france24.com/content/20100330-iran-landmine-clearer-deaths-oil-interests..
Casualties and Victim Assistance
Casualties overview
|
All known casualties by the end of 2011 |
Approximately 10,000 |
|
Casualties in 2011 |
21 (2010: 158) |
|
2011 casualties by outcome |
13 killed; 8 injured (2010: 33 killed; 125 injured) |
|
2011 casualties by device type |
6 anti-vehicle mines; 15 unidentified mines |
In 2011, the Monitor identified 21 mine casualties in Iran through media reports.[1] All identified casualties occurred in the northwestern border provinces of West Azerbaijan, Kurdistan, and Kermanshah. All casualties were male and most were adults; the age of eight casualties was unknown.[2] Most (13) casualties were security forces; the remaining eight were civilians. Unlike some past years, no data was available on the number of casualties among deminers in Iran in 2011.
It was not possible to determine casualty trends due to the variable quality of data available. The Islamic Republic of Iran Mine Action Center (IRMAC), which had reported 158 antipersonnel mine casualties in 2010, including 47 casualties among deminers, did not provide casualty data for 2011.[3]
The total number of casualties from mine/explosive remnants of war (ERW) in Iran is unknown. The Ministry of Interior recorded 6,765 casualties (2,840 people killed and 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 Ministry of Interior (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] No further update on the database was available through August 2012.
Victim Assistance
The total number of survivors in Iran is unknown but is estimated to be at least 6,000.[6]
Victim assistance since 1999[7]
During the reporting period, comprehensive victim assistance was available for military casualties and deminers. Civilians who were recognized as war victims could also access some services through government agencies, though psychological support and economic inclusion programs were extremely limited. Few services were available in the remote regions where many survivors are based. Starting in 2009, the Janbazan Medical and Engineering Research Center (JMERC), with support from the ICRC, identified survivors living in Iran’s western provinces and began facilitating their access to medical care and physical rehabilitation.
Assessing victim assistance needs
No victim assistance needs assessments were identified in 2011. In 2009, JMERC carried out a quality of life assessment of 345 mine/ERW survivors from five western provinces who were injured between 1988 and 2003 with relevant government authorities.[8] Information collected was used to connect survivors with necessary services.[9]
Victim assistance coordination[10]
|
Government coordinating body/ focal point |
Ministry of the Interior with the FMVA, IKRF and the State Welfare Organization (SWO) for civilian survivors; IRMAC for casualties caused by demining accidents |
|
Coordinating mechanism(s) |
None |
|
Plan |
None |
The Ministry of the Interior is responsible for coordinating and monitoring victim assistance for all civilian survivors. Survivors or their family members must report the mine incident to the ministry office in their province to register and receive services as war victims. If 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[14]
|
Name of organization |
Type of organization |
Type of activity |
Changes in quality/coverage of service in 2011 |
|
JMERC |
Governmental agency |
Research, facilitating access to services |
Activities with mine survivors on hold in 2011 |
|
IRMAC |
Government agency |
Facilitate and provide a full range of victim assistance services to deminers involved in demining accidents |
Ongoing in 2011 |
|
FMVA |
Governmental agency |
Healthcare and financial support to war victims, including mine/ERW survivors and family members of those who are killed |
|
|
IKRF |
Government agency |
Relief services for vulnerable groups, including survivors |
|
|
SWO |
Government agency |
Relief services for persons with disabilities |
|
|
Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS) |
National society |
Physical rehabilitation |
Ongoing support |
|
ICRC |
International organization |
Supported JMERC and FMVA to development individualized treatment plans for survivors |
Ongoing support |
No information was available regarding the quality or accessibility of victim assistance services in Iran in 2011. For 2010, the Monitor reported that medical care and physical rehabilitation services were generally available for registered mine/ERW survivors through government-supported health services and the Iranian Red Crescent Society’s (IRCS) network of physical rehabilitation centers. However, Iran lacked 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 was to ensure that all those people registered by the state, including family members of survivors, were eligible.[16] However, it was estimated that some 20% of mine/ERW survivors were not granted war victim status and so 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]
For 2011, JMERC and FMVA, with ICRC support, planned to facilitate better access to appropriate specialized medical attention for 186 women survivors identified through the 2009 survivor assessment.[19] However, through the end of the year, these activities were on hold.[20]
No information was available on economic inclusion initiatives for mine survivors in 2011. The 2009 JMERC survivor assessment found that just 12% of respondents were employed.[21] Vocational training opportunities for persons with disabilities were centralized in urban areas and were unable to meet the needs of the population.[22]
Discrimination against persons with disabilities is prohibited by law in Iran. In 2011, a lack of accessibility to buildings remained a widespread problem for persons with disabilities, though some new, government-funded buildings were accessible.[23]
Iran ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on 23 October 2009.
[1] Monitor Media monitoring from 1 January 2011 to 31 December 2011.
[2] There were no known casualties among children in 2011.
[3] Monitor analysis of casualty data provided by Mohammad Hossein Amirahmadi, Director, IRMAC, 7 June 2011.
[4] “Information about Landmine Explosion Victims,” provided by Nahid Nafissi, Director, Iranian Mine Victim Resource Center, 25 August 2005; and UN, “2006 Portfolio of Mine Action Projects,” New York, 2007, p. 199.
[5] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Mohammad Hossein Amirahmadi, IRMAC, 7 June 2011.
[6] UN, “2006 Portfolio of Mine Action Projects,” New York, 2007, p. 199.
[7] See previous Iran country profiles at the Monitor: www.the-monitor.org.
[8] The five provinces were Ilam, Kermanshah, Kurdistan, Khuzestan, and Western Azerbaijan. Response to Monitor questionnaire by Shahriar Khateri, Medical Doctor, JMERC, 31 May 2011.
[9] ICRC, “Annual Report 2010,” Geneva, May 2011, p. 424.
[10] Email from Dr. Reza Soroush, Director, JMERC, 6 May 2009.
[11] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Mohammad Hossein Amirahmadi, IRMAC, 7 June 2011.
[12] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Dr. Shahriar Khateri, JMERC, 31 May 2011.
[13] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Mohammad Hossein Amirahmadi, IRMAC, 7 June 2011.
[14] Iranian government agencies did not respond to Monitor requests for information regarding the provision of assistance for mine survivors. ICRC, “Annual Report 2011,” Geneva, May 2012, pp. 375-378.
[15] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Katayoon Hossein Nejad, Communications Officer, ICRC, 17 March 2011.
[16] Ibid.
[17] Response to Monitor Questionnaire from Dr. Shahriar Khateri, JMERC, 31 May 2011.
[18] Email from Katayoon Hossein Nejad, ICRC, 23 August 2011.
[19] ICRC, “Annual Report 2010,” Geneva, May 2011, p. 424.
[20] ICRC, “Annual Report 2011,” Geneva, May 2012, p. 377.
[21] Farahnaz Falahati, Shahriar Khateri, and Mohammadreza Soroush, “The Impacts of Landmine and the Explosive Remnants of War (ERW) - Induced Injuries on the Survivors’ Quality of Life (Final Report of a Research Project),” unpublished, p. 37, provided by email from Katayoon Hossein Nejad, ICRC, 2 June 2010.
[22] US Department of State, “2011 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Iran,” Washington, DC, 24 May 2012.
[23] Ibid.
Support for Mine Action
SUPPORT FOR MINE ACTION
In September 2009, the Peace Generation Organization for Demining (POD) was established in Lebanon with funding from the Government of Iran and working in partnership with the Iranian organization Immen Sazan Omran Pars (ISOP),[1] a major demining company in Iran.[2] In 2011, POD had seven explosive ordnance (EOD) teams at a cost of US$30,000 per team per month, which is the estimated budget figure used by the Lebanese Mine Action Center for its annual planning. At these rates the Islamic of Government of Iran contributed the equivalent of US$2,520,000 to POD and thus Lebanon’s mine action program in 2011.