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

At the UN General Assembly (UNGA) First Committee on Disarmament and International Security in November 2012 Iran stated that its experience of contamination by cluster munition remnants means it “shares the humanitarian aspects” of the Convention on Cluster Munitions.[1] In a meeting with the Monitor, the Iranian representative said the government acknowledges the humanitarian rationale for the Convention on Cluster Munitions and is against the use of cluster munitions, but has not joined the convention because it was negotiated outside of the UN, does not include major producers, and allows for joint military operations with non-State Parties that use cluster munitions. The delegate indicated that Iran’s position could change if the current political situation changes.[2]

In a September 2011 statement to States Parties, Iran listed the same arguments against accession to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.[3]

Iran did not engage 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, Lebanon. In November 2012, Iran acknowledged this was its first participation in a meeting of the convention and described its presence as “an indication of our support to the peoples of Lebanon who are the main victims of cluster bombs used by Zionist regime during the 33-day war.”[4]

Iran was invited to, but did not attend the convention’s Third Meeting of States Parties in Oslo, Norway in September 2012. Iran has not attended the convention’s intersessional meetings in Geneva, including those held in April 2013.

A government official informed the Monitor in October 2012 that Iran is keen to participate in meetings of the convention, but it is limited by administrative challenges, including a domestic law that does not allow Iran to share the costs of international meetings of treaties that it has not joined.[5]

Iran is not party to the Mine Ban Treaty. It is not 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.[6] 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.[7]

In September 2011, Iran stated that it is contaminated by cluster munitions used during the Iran-Iraq War.[8] According to one source, Iraq used air-dropped cluster bombs against Iranian troops in 1984 during the war.[9]

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.[10]

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

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]

Casualties and Victim Assistance

The Islamic Republic of Iran has a significant number of landmine and explosive remnant of war (ERW) survivors who are in need of assistance.

Casualties

Casualties overview

In 2012, the Monitor identified 123 casualties from landmines and ERW in Iran.[1] All landmine casualties occurred in the five western border provinces, namely Western Azarbaijan, Kurdistan, Kermanshah, Ilam, and Khuzestan. Two naval mine casualties occurred in Hormozgan province and ERW casualties occurred in Alborz, Ilam, Khuzestan, and Sistan and Baluchestan provinces.

Men made up the vast majority of casualties (79 of 86, or 92%) for which the age and gender was known.[2] Seven casualties were children, making 39% of the 18 civilian casualties for which the age was known. This compared with one known child casualty in 2011. There were three female casualties, of which at least one was a girl.[3]

In 2012, more than half of all casualties (67) were deminers. This was a steep increase compared with 36 deminer casualties in 2011 and was the highest number of deminer casualties recorded in a single year since 1988.[4] Another 54 casualties were civilians; this was a decrease from the 77 civilian casualties in 2011.There were two casualties among security forces, significantly fewer than the 16 military casualties identified in 2011.

The 123 casualties in 2012 was a slight decrease from the 129 identified for 2011 and the lowest number of recorded annual casualties since 1988, the first year for which data is available.[5] The highest number of annual casualties, 918, was recorded in 1995, after which annual casualty totals steadily declined through the end of 2012.[6]

The Monitor identified 8,243 casualties (2,519 killed; 5,723 injured; one unknown) from landmines and ERW in Iran between 1988 and 2012, based on data that was received in 2013.[7] The Monitor had identified 953 casualties between 1999 and 2011, relying mostly on media reports. This compares with 3,418 for the same period, based on data that was received by the Monitor in 2013. As of 2006, the UN reported that there had been approximately 10,000 casualties in Iran.[8]

Victim Assistance

Between 1988 and the end of 2012, there were 5,723 people injured by landmines and ERW in Iran, the vast majority of which are civilians (5,616).[9]

Victim assistance since 1999

Since 1999, comprehensive victim assistance has been available for military casualties. The same assistance has been available to deminers since 2010. 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. However, many civilians and deminers who were not recognized as war victims received minimal assistance that was insufficient to meet their needs. Few services were available in the remote regions where many survivors are based.

There is no comprehensive plan or central coordinating body in charge of assistance to all victims of landmines. The result is that the assistance that victims have received varies widely in accordance with the victim status they are assigned and with the legal framework that happens to govern their cases.

Military survivors and their families, whether they had their mine incident while demining or in another context, receive support through their respective military units.[10]

Since 2006, the Iranian Mine Action Center (IRMAC) has provided life and disability insurance coverage for deminers working for private subcontractors.[11]

Civilian mine/ERW victims who were recognized as martyrs or disabled “veterans”[12] were entitled to comprehensive assistance provided by Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs (FMVA). Other civilian mine/ERW victims who were not recognized as such were only entitled to negligible allowances accorded by Imam Khomeini Relief Foundation (IKRF) or the State Welfare Organization (SWO).[13]

For 17 years (1993–2010), the law and regulation governing the eligibility of civilian mine/ERW victims[14] as martyrs or disabled veterans expressly excluded the victims who were known to be “morally corrupt” or “counter-revolutionary” as well as those who had “recklessly,” or “intentionally,” caused the incident.[15] Provincial commissions (referred to as “Article 2 Commissions”) in the five war-affected provinces determined the eligibility of individual victims and were criticized for excluding many individuals from the benefits that the law assigned to survivors and families.[16] Victims had no means to challenge decisions of the commissions.[17]

Following protests by the victims and civil activists and at the initiative of a number of members of parliament from the affected provinces, the 1993 law establishing the process for registering as a mine/ERW victim and its 1994 regulation were amended in August 2010.[18] References to “moral corruption” and “recklessness” were removed and other changes were made in order to make the procedure more accessible to victims.[19] The amendment was retroactive, enabling all past victims, including those who were excluded by the decision of previous commissions for “recklessness” or “corruption,” to submit their case under the new law. It is reported that since the amendment is in place, new victims are much more easily granted the status that entitles them to comprehensive assistance.[20] However, through 2012 there were bureaucratic hurdles, such as the need for extensive paperwork that was not available during the war and early post-war years, which prevented many past victims from successfully registering for assistance.[21]

The August 2010 legal amendment also impacted deminers, though not retroactively. Under the new law, the FMVA must register deminers who have been killed or injured by landmines and ERW as martyrs or disabled veterans and provide for the medical care of those injured.[22] All victims of demining incidents occurring after August 2010 are eligible for all the services provided by FMVA; this assistance is still not available to deminers who had their accident prior to this date.[23]

Victim assistance in 2012

In 2012, government bodies responsible for victim assistance had reduced available funding due to the general deterioration of the economic situation, which was at least partly attributable to international sanctions. This situation reduced the availability of these services to those victims who received assistance from the state.[24] In 2012, a shortage of medical supplies, resulting from international sanctions, continued.[25]

Assessing victim assistance needs

In 2012, Janbazan Medical and Engineering Research Center (JMERC) carried out two targeted needs assessment studies on disabled veterans who had lost an eye and those who were amputee veterans, respectively. As of September 2013, results of these studies had not been published but were expected to be released soon thereafter.[26] In 2009, JMERC carried out a quality of life assessment with relevant government authorities of 345 mine/ERW survivors from five western provinces who were injured between 1988 and 2003.[27] Information collected was shared with FMVA, NGOs, and IRMAC and continued to be used throughout 2012 to connect survivors with necessary services.[28]

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, FMVA, and the IKRF, as well as from local authorities and NGOs working in mine affected provinces.[29] No further update on the database was available through September 2013. The Comprehensive Law on Provision of Services to War Veterans, adopted in December 2012, required the FMVA to develop a comprehensive database on the state of health of the persons under its coverage, including all the medical and paramedical information concerning them.[30]

Victim assistance coordination

The Ministry of Interior is responsible for coordinating and monitoring victim assistance for all civilian survivors and the families of those killed. Survivors or their family members must report the mine incident to the ministry office in their district to register and to have their case submitted to the local commissions as detailed above. If martyr or disabled veteran status is granted to the victim by the Commission, they are referred to the FMVA for assistance. Victims whose applications are rejected by the local commission are referred to SWO in urban areas and to the IKRF in rural areas.[31]

The Department of Martyrs and Veterans, within IRMAC, is responsible for the coordination of 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.[32]

In 2012, IRMAC began discussions with the Ministry of Interior to design a plan of action aimed at better meeting the needs of civilian landmine survivors, following consultations with the ICRC and the Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS).[33] No further information was available on the process and outcome of these discussions.

Inclusion and participation in victim assistance

In 2012, JMERC, in collaboration with the Tehran Peace Museum, conducted community-based participatory research projects that involved the participation of landmine and chemical weapons survivors. In this framework, some landmine survivors participated in awareness raising and victim assistance activities.[34] No information was available on participation of survivors in victim assistance planning or coordination.

Service accessibility and effectiveness

Victim assistance activities[35]

In December 2012, parliament enacted the Comprehensive Law on Provision of Services to War Veterans.[36] The legislation stipulates all the services and benefits to be provided to disabled veterans and families of martyrs. Mine victims and their families would be eligible for all those services if successful in applying for the required status.

The services include provision of adequate housing, complete coverage of healthcare expenses, and provision of all necessary medical services, including physical and psychological rehabilitation by FMVA. The law establishes 25% employment quotas in favor of eligible persons in the public sector, tax reduction and payment by the state of the social security fees of private enterprises that hire the protected persons, and payment by the state of the protected persons’ unemployment benefits and pension. It foresees the provision of legal aid for covered persons by the Ministry of Justice whenever necessary. Finally, the law requires the FMVA to cover school fees for eligible persons and their children who study in private higher education institutions and establishes quotas in public universities.

In contrast to this comprehensive assistance system, mine victims not granted the status of disabled veterans are not eligible for any assistance beyond minimal allowances available through SWO or IKRF. Allowances remained static between 2004 and 2012 despite high inflation. As a result, in 2012 victims relying on these allowances were said to be living in extreme poverty, and in some cases, had been reduced to begging.[37]

Discrimination against persons with disabilities is prohibited by law in Iran. In 2012, new government-funded buildings were constructed in accordance with legal standards of public accessibility, although structures predating the adoption of those standards remained inaccessible.[38]

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

In September 2009, the Peace Generation Organization for Demining (POD) was established in Lebanon with funding from the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran and working in partnership with the Iranian organization Immen Sazan Omran Pars (ISOP), a major demining company in Iran.[1] In 2011 and 2012, POD had seven explosive ordnance teams at a cost of US$30,000 per team per month, which is the estimated budget figure used by the Lebanon Mine Action Center (LMAC) for its annual planning. At these rates, Iran contributed the equivalent of $2,520,000 to POD and thus to Lebanon’s mine action program in 2011 and 2012 respectively.[2]