Key developments since May 2002: The UN
Development Program signed an agreement with Iran in July 2002 to help develop a
mine action strategy and provide training in various aspects of mine action.
Mine Ban Policy
Iran has not acceded to 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 it needs to continue to use landmines to protect its borders and to
combat drug smugglers. A Ministry of Foreign Affairs official wrote that
organized international drug smuggling rings, anti-government terrorist groups
along Iran’s western borders, and unstable governments both east and west
of Iran make it “obligatory” for Iran to “make use of
landmines, as a defensive tool to prevent the concentration of smugglers, and
curtail terrorist acts along its borders.” She said, “These
uninhabited territories are clearly known to the non-military populace, and
those who take the risk of entering the minefields are none but the military
personnel.” She also said that because Iran’s neighbors have
declined to participate in the Mine Ban Treaty, “in order to protect our
borders, [Iran] too cannot accept a total ban on the
landmines.”[2]
Iran did not attend any Mine Ban Treaty-related meetings in 2002 or the first
half of 2003. Iran has abstained from voting on every pro-mine ban UN General
Assembly resolution since 1996, including UNGA Resolution 57/74 on 22 November
2002.
Production, Transfer, Stockpiling, Use
Iran is a manufacturer of antipersonnel mines,
including the YM-I, Mk. 4, and a Claymore-type mine, but it is not known if
production is ongoing or if it commences to meet specific requirements. On 6
September 2002, the Ministry of Defense provided an official statement to
Landmine Monitor that, “The Islamic Republic of Iran, since the
termination of its war, has not produced anti-personnel
mines.”[3] At the same
time, however, Landmine Monitor received information that mine clearance
organizations in Afghanistan are removing and destroying many hundreds of
Iranian YM-I and YM-I-B antipersonnel mines, date stamped 1999 and 2000, from
abandoned Northern Alliance front
lines.[4]
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. Bangladesh and Gabon have declared stockpiling
antipersonnel mines of Iranian origin; Gabon declared acquiring the mines in
1995.[5] Iranian antipersonnel
and antivehicle mines were part of a shipment seized by Israel in January 2002
off the coast of Gaza.
The size and composition of Iran’s antipersonnel mine stockpile is not
known.
Iran is believed to maintain minefields along its borders with Iraq,
Afghanistan, and Pakistan.
Landmine Problem
The mined areas in western and southwestern Iran,
particularly the provinces of Khuzestan, Kermanshah, Ilam, and Kurdistan, 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.[6] According to
Colonel Amir Mahmoudi, ground forces second-in-command, “Khuzestan is the
most infested area followed by Kermanshah and
Ilam.”[7] The Army
estimates that 1.5 to 1.8 million hectares are still infested with Iraqi
landmines.[8]
According to Colonel Mahmoudi, “We have divided the regions into secure
and prohibited regions. Prohibited regions lie near the border with Iraq.
Despite our announcements, sometimes nomads take their cattle to the prohibited
regions for grazing and in certain cases their curiosity leads to explosion of
mines. Smugglers who want to transit these regions also leave casualties.
Greedy people who enter these regions to collect aluminum or iron remnants of
the war are also included in the
casualties.”[9]
According to one report, the landmines have “severely limited”
agricultural production in five provinces along the Iraqi
border.[10] Landmines are also
located in the oil fields. One of the largest fields, the Azadegan oil
structure, must be cleared before interested Japanese companies can “start
full-scale
appraisals.”[11]
There are also landmines in eastern Iran, particularly in the border areas
with Pakistan and Afghanistan. In 1995, Iranian Interior Minister Ali Mohammad
Besharati reportedly stated, “To stop drug caravans from entering Iran,
eastern borders will be
mined.”[12] According to
a Pakistani source, in an incident that resulted in the death of five people and
injury to eleven others, “The Iranian authorities laid landmines to keep
the drug traffickers
away.”[13]
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. Fifteen Army battalions are
involved in demining.[14] No
statistics on mine clearance achievements in 2002 or 2003 have been made
publicly available. The demining process is reportedly becoming more difficult
as Army units approach the Iraqi
border.[15]
According to an August 2002 news report, since the end of the war with Iraq
in 1998, a total of 3,217,000 antipersonnel mines, 914,000 antivehicle mines and
4,236,000 pieces of unexploded ordnance (UXO) had been cleared.[16] In the Khuzestan and Ilam
provinces alone, 327,595 hectares of land were cleared, removing 970,000
antipersonnel mines and 435,000 antivehicle
mines.[17]
An Iranian general has reportedly stated that in 2001, 52 army deminers were
killed and another 122 were injured while clearing landmines and
UXO.[18]
Norwegian People's Aid (NPA) works in western Iran as technical advisors for
Norsk Hydro. NPA conducts mine and UXO clearance and survey. The area of
operation is part of the former Iran-Iraq war frontline. Working with two
Iranian Army Engineer Battalions, NPA provides 14-16 technical advisors on
manual and mechanical mine clearance techniques. The program employs two
Minecat mechanical clearance machines provided by the Norwegian Demining
Consortium. In 2002, a total area of 599,115,909 square meters was surveyed.
This included: 353,257,662 square meters of existing minefields; 119,959,122
square meters of previously cleared minefields; and 85,899,125 square meters of
suspected areas.[19]
A new project to support mine action in Iran has been designed by the UN
Development Programme (UNDP), which will focus on channeling assistance through
the National Committee for Demining within the Iranian Ministry of Interior.
The project includes installation of the Information Management System for Mine
Action (IMSMA) and development of a mine risk education
program.[20] An agreement
between UNDP and Iran was signed on 25 July 2002. The project will allow UNDP
to “help develop a mine action strategy in line with international mine
clearance standards,” and “provide training for mine action middle
managers responsible for surveying mined areas, alerting communities about the
dangers of mines, ensuring treatment and rehabilitation for survivors of mine
accidents as well as detection and destruction of
mines.”[21] The UNDP
initiative will provide $470,000 for these efforts and “$100,000 worth of
equipment to increase the personal safety of demining
practitioners.”[22]
The first international mine detection robot contest, “Robo deminer
2002,” was held at Amir Kabir University on 19-21 August 2002. There were
120 domestic and foreign teams, as well as 1,500 experts, researchers and
international
instructors.[23]
Landmine Casualties
There is no official data available on landmine
casualties in Iran. Landmine Monitor recorded 11 civilians killed and 21
injured by mines and UXO in 2002, from a limited number of available media
reports. However, according to several media reports, every year dozens of
shepherds and local residents are killed or injured by mines in the border
regions.[24]
Landmine Monitor recorded 18 civilians killed by mines in
2001.[25] In addition, as noted
above, 52 army deminers were reportedly killed and another 122 were injured
during mine clearance operations in
2001.[26]
In January 2002, one shepherd was killed and two other people were injured,
along with seven sheep, in a landmine incident in
Ilam.[27] In April, two
villagers lost their legs in West Azerbaijan as a result of landmines. It was
also reported that in the same town as the villagers, four people died and
several were wounded in mine incidents between March 2001 and March
2002.[28] In August 2002, a
22-year-old man was killed and two teenagers injured in a mine explosion in a
Kurdish province near the Iraqi
border.[29] In September 2002,
two people were killed and two injured in a UXO explosion in the Khuzestan
province.[30] Three mine
incidents were reported in December: five people were killed and 11 injured
when their vehicle hit a mine near the Pakistan
border;[31] two people were
killed in Kurdistan, near the Iraqi
border;[32] and two fishermen
were injured after touching a floating object in the Caspian Sea that was later
identified as a mine.[33]
Casualties continue in 2003, with two children killed and one man injured in
two reported mine incidents to May
2003.[34]
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 mine casualties, of which 394
were killed.[35] No
comprehensive information is available on landmine casualties in other
provinces. However, it was reported that 52 people have been killed and 100
injured by landmines while searching in the former war zones for those missing
in action since the end of the war in
1988.[36]
Survivor Assistance and Disability Policy and Practice
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. Civilians injured by
mines are referred to the relevant governor general department who then assigns
them to a public or private department.
The Norwegian NGO Trauma Care Foundation (TCF) has two training centers, in
Tehran and in Ilam. At the request of the Ministry of Health in Tehran, TCF
trains instructors who in turn train health personnel and villagers in both
basic and advanced emergency medical care for mine casualties and other injury
victims. In 2002, Iranian instructors provided training for more than 400
trauma care providers working at village level, in district clinics, and in
regional trauma centers. Both healthcare/emergency officials and the local
population have viewed the training
positively.[37]
The Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS) supports facilities for persons with
disability across the country providing services such as physiotherapy and
prosthetics. The IRCS has physical rehabilitation centers in thirteen
provinces, physiotherapy centers in 26 provinces, and medical centers in four
provinces. The IRCS also provides training in prosthetics and orthotics to
Iranian students and others from Africa and
Asia.[38]
The “Mostazafan and Janbazan Foundation” provides a variety of
services to soldiers disabled during the Islamic Revolution and war with Iraq,
including mine survivors. The Janbazan section provides many services for its
members, including medical care, housing, employment opportunities, and advocacy
on nondiscrimination laws and
legislation.[39]
All mine survivors, or the families of those killed, are entitled to monetary
support from the government once the incident has been registered and confirmed.
To qualify for benefits, incidents must be reported to the Province
Governor’s Office for Social
Welfare.[40]
In Iran, the State High Council for Coordination of Disabled Persons Affairs
(HCCDPA), which was established as part of the Agenda for Action for the Asian
and Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons, coordinates issues relating to persons
with disabilities.[41] The
State Welfare Organization and the Iranian Handicapped Society, which deals
specifically with people who require walking devices and wheelchairs, provides
assistance to persons with disabilities in Iran. Assistance includes financial
subsidies, assistive devices, promotion of cultural and educational equality,
vocational training, employment opportunities, and recreational facilities for
persons with
disabilities.[42]
[1] Interviews with Hamid Baeidi-Nejad,
Counselor, Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the UN, New
York, 24 July 2001 and 1 March 2002. [2]
Zahra Noparast, “Iran and the Dilemma of Antipersonnel Mines,”
Siasate Khareji (Foreign Policy), Fall 2000, No. 4, pp. 785-799. This is the
official journal of the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs. [3] Letter to Mary Wareham,
Landmine Monitor Global Coordinator, from the Permanent Mission of Iran to the
UN in New York, 6 September 2002. [4]
Information provided to Landmine Monitor and ICBL by HALO Trust and Danish
Demining Group, July 2002. [5]
Bangladesh Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report, Form B, 28 August 2002; Gabon
Article 7 Report, Form B, 25 September 2002. The antipersonnel mines declared
by Bangladesh are M18A1 Claymore
mines. [6] 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. [7] Ahmadian-Rad Hamideh,
“80 Million Landmines Laid in Iran,” Persian Morning Daily, 17 April
2002. [8]
Ibid. [9]
Ibid. [10] “UNDP to Support Mine
Action Awareness Program in Iran,” Tehran Times, 25 July
2002. [11] “International Oil
Firms Eye Iran’s Azadegan,” Energy Compass, 31 October 2002;
“Azadegan Holds Huge Oil Potential,” Petroleum Intelligence Weekly,
31 October 2002. [12] “Iran to
Mine Borders to Deter Drug Traffickers,” Reuters, 25 June
1995. [13] “Five Suspected Drug
Smugglers Killed by Mines at Pakistan-Iran Border,” Agence France Presse
(Quetta), 20 December 2002. [14]
“80 Million Landmines Laid in Iran,” Persian Morning Daily, 17 April
2002. [15]
Ibid. [16] “One Iranian Killed,
Two Others Injured in Landmine Blast: Press,” Payvand’s Iran News,
16 August 2002. [17] “52 Killed,
122 Injured While Defusing Iraqi Mines: Official,” Tehran Times, 17 April
2002. [18] “One Iranian Killed,
Two Others Injured in Landmine Blast: Press,” Payvand’s Iran News,
16 August 2002. The fatalities were related to activities primarily in the
Khuzestan and Ilam provinces. “52 Killed, 122 Injured While Defusing Iraqi
Mines: Official,” Tehran Times, 17 April
2002. [19] Email from Chris Olausson,
Field Manager, NPA Iran, 26 March
2003. [20] Mine Action Support Group,
“MASG Newsletter,” June 2003, Annex 5, pp.
21-22. [21] “UNDP to Support Mine
Action Awareness Program in Iran,” Tehran Times, 25 July
2002. [22]
Ibid. [23] “Iran to Host the First
International Robo Deminer Contest.” Payvand, 14 August
2002. [24] “One killed, five
wounded in mine explosion in Ilam,” IRNA, 6 March 2002; “One Iranian
Killed, Two Others Injured in Landmine Blast,” IRNA, 17 August 2002;
“Landmines Kills Young Man, Wounds Two Teenagers in Iran,” Agence
France Presse 15 August 2002. [25] See
Landmine Monitor Report 2002, p.
670. [26] “52 Killed, 122 Injured
While Defusing Iraqi Mines: Official,” Tehran Times, 17 April
2002. [27] “One Killed, Two
Injured by Landmine in Ilam.” Tehran Times, 30 January
2002. [28] “Mine Blast Severs Feet
of Two People in Western Iran,” Tehran Times, 24 April
2002. [29]“Landmines Kills Young
Man, Wounds Two Teenagers in Iran,” Agence France Presse, 15 August 2002.
[30] “Two Killed as Abandoned
Shell Explodes in Western Iran,” Agence France Presse, 26 September
2002. [31] “Five Suspected Drug
Smugglers Killed by Mines at Pakistan-Iran Border,” Agence France Presse,
20 December 2002. [32] “Two People
Killed in Mine Blast in Western Iran,” Xinhua, 2 December
2002. [33] “Two Itanian fishermen
wounded by drifting Caspian mines,” Agence France Presse, 25 December
2002. [34] “Two children killed in
mine explosion in Marivan, Iran,” IRNA, 16 April 2003; “Teenager
loses foot to landmine explosion in western Iran,” IRNA, 11 May
2003. [35] For details on the Ilam
survey, see Landmine Monitor Report 2000, p.
930. [36] Meisam Rashidi Merhabadi,
“Searching for 10,000 Martyrs Killed in Iraq,” Persian Morning
Daily, 6 August 2002. [37] Email from
Odd Edvardsen, Tromsoe Mine Victim Resource Center, 15 January
2003. [38] Iranian Red Crescent Society
website, www.rcs.ir/english/; ICRC, “Annual Report 2001,” p.
319. [39] See Landmine Monitor Report
2002, p. 671. [40] Hameed Reza Jahanlu,
MD, Hans Husum, MD, and Torben Wisborg, MD, “Mortality in Land-Mine
Accidents in Iran,” Journal of Prehospital and Disaster Medicine, Vol. 17,
No. 2, April-June 2002, p. 108. [41] UN,
“Asian and Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons: mid-point – country
perspectives,” New York, 1999, p.
114. [42] UN, “Economic and Social
Commission for Asia and the Pacific, Promotion of Non-Handicapping Physical
Environments for Disabled Persons: Case Studies,” New York, 1995,
available at www.unescap.org (accessed 4
June 2002).
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