Key
developments since May 2001: Although Iran declared an export moratorium in
1997, mine clearance organizations in Afghanistan are encountering numerous
Iranian mines, dated 1999 and 2000. Also, in early January 2002, the Israeli
military seized Iranian-produced antipersonnel mines on a ship reportedly
destined to Palestine. According to an Iranian military official, from March
2001 to March 2002, 70 million square meters of land was cleared, including more
than 3.2 million antipersonnel mines, 914,000 antitank mines and 4,236 UXO. A
new joint project with UNDP is aimed at establishing and implementing an
integrated national mine action program.
MINE BAN POLICY
Iran has not acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty.
Unlike the previous year, Iran did not attend the Third Meeting of States
Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty in September 2001, or the intersessional Standing
Committee meetings in January and May 2002. On 29 November 2001 Iran again
abstained, as it has done in previous years, in voting on the UN General
Assembly resolution supporting the Mine Ban Treaty.
An Iranian official told Landmine Monitor that while Iran has condemned
landmines as inhumane weapons, it also views them as a “necessary
evil.”[1] The government
believes that it needs to continue to use landmines to protect its borders and
to combat drug smugglers.[2]
Iran has stated that it prefers to deal with the landmine issue through the
Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW), which regulates use, not prohibits
it.[3] While Iran is not a
party to the CCW or its Amended Protocol II on landmines, and has no plans to
ratify, a government official told Landmine Monitor that Iran observes the
CCW’s restrictions.[4]
Iran attended the second review conference of the CCW in December 2001.
PRODUCTION, STOCKPILING, USE
Iran is a manufacturer of antipersonnel mines,
including the YM-I mine and the Mk. 4 mine, but it is not known if production is
on-going or if it commences to meet specific
requirements.[5] The size and
composition of Iran’s antipersonnel mine stockpile is not known. Iran is
believed to maintain minefields along its borders with Iraq and Afghanistan.
TRANSFER
Iran exported a significant number of
antipersonnel mines in the past. An export moratorium was instituted in 1997,
but it is not known if it is still formally in
effect.[6] Landmine Monitor has
received information that mine clearance organizations in Afghanistan are
encountering many hundreds of Iranian YM1 and YM1-B antipersonnel mines, date
stamped 1999 and 2000, on recently abandoned Northern Alliance front
lines.[7] On 3 January 2002,
the Israel Defense Force (IDF) seized a ship, the Karine-A, about 300
miles south of the Israeli port of Eilat. Israel claimed the ship originated
from Iran and was destined for Palestine via the Hezbollah in
Lebanon.[8] According to a
manifest released by the IDF, the weapons on the ship included 311 YM-I
antipersonnel mines, 211 YM-III antivehicle mines, demolition blocks, and other
high explosives.[9]
LANDMINE PROBLEM
The mined areas in western and southwestern Iran,
particularly the provinces of Kurdistan, Kermanshah, Ilam, and Khuzestan, are
the result of the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq conflict. Government officials claim that
some 12-16 million landmines were planted in Iran by Iraq during the war in an
area of over four million
hectares.[10]
MINE ACTION
The Ministry of the Interior decides where mine
clearance will take place, based on political, economic, and social priorities,
while the Iranian Armed Forces, specifically the Army’s Engineer Units,
are responsible for mine clearance projects.
Iran has undertaken massive mine clearance efforts since 1988. According to
a senior military official, from the end of the Iran-Iraq War until early 2001,
over 750,000 hectares (7,500 million square meters) of mined land and nine
million mines and UXO were
cleared.[11] Just in the year
2000, more than 30,000 hectares (300 million square meters) of land was
cleared, including more than 880,000 mines and UXO, according to statistics
provided by the Ministry of the
Interior.[12]
According to Brigadier Mohammad Nabizadeh, a deputy head of the Army’s
ground forces, from 20 March 2001 to 20 March 2002, 7,000 hectares (70 million
square meters) of land was cleared, including 3.2 million antipersonnel mines,
914,000 antitank mines, and 4,236 other
munitions.[13]
Despite the progress, in some provinces, such as Ilam, less than half of the
minefields have been
cleared.[14] In Kurdistan
province, deminers had cleared 589 of the 765 mine-infested areas as of early
2001, according to the Deputy Governor-General for Military Affairs, Bahram
Nasrollahizadeh.[15]
The UN Development Program (UNDP) and the government are collaborating on a
mine action project, “Support to Mine Action in Iran.” The project
was initially developed in 1996, but delayed due to funding issues and lack of
government approval. It was revived after a visit in 21-26 August 2001 by the
UNDP’s Bureau for Conflict Prevention and Recovery. The project has a
budget of US$3.2 million (US$3 million from Iran and US$200,000 from UNDP).
According to the project abstract, it is designed to “strengthen the
national capacity of the relevant civilian Government Ministry (currently the
Ministry of Interior) in its implementation of an integrated national Mine
Action Programme. All activities will be coordinated by the Committee for
Demining, which would consist of members of the Ministry of Defense and Foreign
Affairs as well as the governors of the affected provinces.” The UNDP
representative in Iran said, “This project will address the negative
humanitarian and socio-economic impact of widespread contamination caused by
landmines and Unexploded Ordnance (UXO). It will enhance the capacity of the
Government for an integrated mine action in the
country.”[16]
In 2000, Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) was contacted by Norsk Hydro, a
Norwegian oil and energy producing company, to provide expertise in dealing with
mine and UXO contaminated areas in relation to Hydro's seismic explorations in
Western Iran. As the Iranian Army is the only body allowed to conduct mine
clearance in Iran, Norsk Hydro contracted the Iranian Army to undertake the
demining. The program started in January 2001. NPA is responsible for training,
advice and quality control for the demining work in the Anaran region of Iran.
As of July 2002, NPA has 10 Technical Advisors present in Iran to ensure that
the demining activities are in accordance with the International Mine Action
Standards. In 2001, approximately 10 million square meters were cleared by the
Army and under the supervision of NPA. The project is funded by Norsk Hydro and
the national Iranian Oil Company. NPA is also assessing the possibilities for
future humanitarian mine action programs in
Iran.[17]
Iran has favored greater sharing of information concerning landmine detection
technology. The Amir Kabir Univeristy of Technology is hosting an international
competition called, “The First International Mine Detector Robots
Competition” in August 2002. The purpose of the competition is to
identify new technologies and share the information with others around the
world.[18]
MINE RISK EDUCATION
The UNHCR and the government of Iran cooperate at
the Dougharun border camp on the Iran-Afghan border in a program to instruct
returning refugees about the issue of
landmines.[19] UNHCR is
considering a proposal to incorporate mine risk education as a regular part of
repatriations of Afghan refugees from both Iran and
Pakistan.[20] There are not
believed to be any comprehensive efforts underway domestically on mine risk
education.
The Iranian cinema has begun to address the issue of landmines. Over the
past three years, a number of movies mention the landmine issues. Two of the
movies, Takhte Siah (Blackboard) and A Time For Drunken Horses,
take place in Kurdistan province in Iran. Kandahar, a movie made by an
Iranian filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbak, begins with landmine education for
returning Afghan refugees in Iran and continues to examine how landmine
survivors cope in Afghanistan.
LANDMINE CASUALTIES
Landmine Monitor recorded 18 people killed by
mines in 2001, and two people killed and seven injured in the first quarter of
2002, from a limited number of available media reports. The reports showed the
majority of casualties were civilian, including children and shepherds.
According to two media reports, every year dozens of livestock, locals and
migrant tribesmen are killed or injured by
mines.[21]
In February 2001, an Iranian Army commander on a demining team in the
southwest section of the country was killed in a mine
accident.[22] In March, five
children were killed in a landmine explosion at an abandoned military base in
the border province of West
Azarbaijan.[23] In another
incident in March, two shepherds were killed by a mine in the western border
city of Mehran, in Ilam
province.[24] In April, in the
southwestern province of Ilam, six Iranian soldiers were killed after stepping
on mines.[25] In November, a
farmer was killed in a mine explosion in Ilam
province.[26] In December,
three people were killed by landmines, including two soldiers in
Kurdistan.[27] Mine incidents
reported in Ilam province in 2002 included: in January, one person was killed
and two injured in a landmine
incident[28], and in March, one
person was killed and five others injured in landmine
explosions.[29]
There is no systematic nationwide reporting of landmine survivors in Iran; a
survey done in Ilam province in 2000 is the most in-depth study to date.
Between 1989 and 1999, the survey recorded 1,082 casualties, of which 394 were
killed.[30] No comprehensive
information is available on landmine casualties in other provinces. The Medical
Engineering Research Center estimates that there are 300 landmine or UXO
casualties in Iran every year, of which 36% are killed.
SURVIVOR ASSISTANCE
Little is known about survivor assistance programs
in Iran. Military personnel injured by mines receive medical care,
rehabilitation, prosthetics, and a pension, from the army. However, civilians
injured by mines are referred to the relevant governor general department who
then assigns them to a public or private
department.[31] The
“Mostazafan and Janbazan Foundation” provides a variety of services
to people disabled during the Islamic Revolution and war with Iraq. According
to their website, the Janbazan section provides many services for the members,
including medical care, housing, employment opportunities, and advocacy on
nondiscrimination laws and legislation. While this organization does provide
assistance for soldiers affected by landmines, it is not clear who assists
civilian mine survivors.[32]
In 2000, the High Center for Research and Information, the Mostazafan and
Janbazan Foundation, and the Norwegian Trauma Care Foundation, presented a
proposal for a victim assistance program to the Ministry of Health. The program
would provide training in emergency medical care to paramedics in mine-affected
areas.[33] No information on
the activities of the program in 2001 is available. However, it is known that
in 2001 the Trauma Care Foundation received US$41,000 in funding from the
Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the
program.[34]
[1] Interview with Hamid Baeidi-Nejad,
Counselor, Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United
Nations, New York, 24 July 2001 and 1 March
2002. [2]
Ibid. [3]
Ibid. [4] Ibid. In particular, he
claimed that Iran keeps records of where mines are
placed. [5] Jane’s Mines and Mine
Clearance, 1999-2000, online update, 18 November
1999. [6] Statement by Ambassador S.
M.H. Adeli, to the Signing Conference of the Mine Ban Treaty, Ottawa, 1-4
December 1997; Statement by Ambassador Mehdi Danesh Yazdi to the UN, 17 November
1998. [7] Information provided to
Landmine Monitor and ICBL by HALO Trust and the Danish Demining Group, July
2002. [8] Transcript of briefing by the
IDF Chief of Staff and Commander in Chief of the Israeli Navy, 6 January 2002,
posted on
http://www.idf.il/english/news/briefing060102.stm. [9]
Manifest posted by IDF at
http://www.idf.il/english/news/karinea.stm. [10]
This is the equivalent of 40,000,000,000 square meters. “7,000 Hectares
of Land Cleared from Iraqi Mines,” Islamic Republic News Agency
(Khorramshahr), 25 March 2002. For a list of the mine types used by Iran and
Iraq, see Landmine Monitor Report 2001, p.
1005. [11] “6 Iranian Soldiers
Killed in Mine Defusing,” Xinhua News Agency, 1 May 2001.
[12] See Landmine Monitor Report 2001,
p. 1005. [13] “7,000 Hectares of
Land Cleared from Iraqi Mines,” Islamic Republic News Agency
(Khorramshahr), 25 March 2002. [14]
“Farmer Killed in Western Iran by Landmines Leftover from War with
Iraq,” Islamic Republic News Agency (Ilam), 21 November
2001. [15] “Iran Demines 765 Areas
Along Border with Iraq,” Islamic Republic News Agency (Sanandaj, Kordestan
Province), 28 April 2001. He indicated the government had allocated 1.8 billion
Iranian rials ($1.033 million) for mine clearance in the
province. [16] Email from Hossein Jafari
Giv, Program Officer for Natural Resources Management and Disaster Response,
UNDP, 19 March 2002. [17] Norwegian
People's Aid, Portfolio of Humanitarian Mine Action; Responses to LM Mine Action
Questionnaire from Erik Tollefsen, Technical Advisor, NPA,
Oslo. [18] “Robodeminer
2002,” retrieved on 31 March 2002 at
http://www.rdc2002.com/. [19]
“Mine Tips for Refugees,” The Straits Times (Singapore), 21
September 2000. [20] Interview with
Parviz Mohajer, Public Relations Officer, UNHCR, New York, 1 March
2002. [21] “Farmer Killed in
Western Iran by Landmines Leftover from War with Iraq,” Islamic Republic
News Agency (Ilam), 21 November 2001; and “Two Soldiers Killed in Mine
Blasts on Iraqi Border,” Agence France Presse (Tehran), 18 December
2001. [22] “Five Children Killed
in Iran Landmine Explosion,” Agence France Presse, 17 March
2001. [23]
Ibid. [24] “Two Killed in Iran
Landmine Blast,” Agence France Presse, 29 March
2001. [25] “Six Iranian Soldiers
Killed by Left-over Iran-Iraq War Mine,” Agence France Presse, 1 May
2001. [26] “Farmer Killed in
Western Iran by Landmines Leftover from War with Iraq,” IRNA, 21 November
2001. [27] “Two Soldiers Killed in
Mine Blasts on Iraqi Border,” Agence France Presse, 18 December
2001. [28] “One Killed, Two
Injured by Landmine in Ilam,” Agence France Presse, 29 January
2002. [29] “One Killed, Five
Wounded in Mine Explosions in Ilam,” IRNA, 6 March
2002. [30] For details on the Ilam
survey, see Landmine Monitor Report 2000, p.
930. [31] See Landmine Monitor Report
2001, pp. 1006-1007. [32]
“Mostazafan and Janbazan Foundation” website,
http://www.neda.net.ir/mostazfn/intro.htm, accessed 30 March
2002. [33] Portfolio of Landmine Victim
Assistance Programs, ICBL, September 2000; see also http://www.traumacare.no
(accessed 4 July 2002). [34] UN Resource
Mobilization at http://www.mineaction.org (accessed 4 July 2002).
About Us
Our Research Products