Iranian Children in a Minefield

TEHRAN (Defapress) - Despite clear international laws to protect children in war, during the eight years of the imposed war, the United Nations was a silent observer to the killing, maiming, and abduction of thousands of Iranian children. This report documents the systematic violation of children's rights and a historic failure in the very duty this institution has defined for itself.

The Iran-Iraq War, which lasted from September 1980 to August 1988, was the longest conflict of the 20th century and left devastating effects on Iranian society, especially on children. Iranian children, as the most vulnerable segment of society, were the primary victims of this catastrophe. As a result of this merciless aggression, thousands of children were martyred, injured, or taken captive, and the physical, psychological, social, and economic effects of this war cast a shadow over their lives for decades.

This report, based on a review of an article published in the Iranian Review for UN Studies (IRUNS), examines these impacts. While emphasizing the ineffective role of the United Nations in protecting Iran's children, it also highlights the injustices imposed upon them.

The grounds for the start of the Iran-Iraq War were rooted in long-standing border disputes and the political turmoil following the Islamic Revolution of Iran in 1979. Exploiting these conditions, Iraq launched a simultaneous air and ground assault on Iranian soil on September 22, 1980. However, Iranians, with deep faith, mobilized for the defense of Islam and their homeland, and many volunteers from various social strata and age groups, especially the youth, rushed to the battlefronts.

Under such circumstances, children, who should have spent their childhood in peace, suffered the most. During the war, missile attacks and aerial bombardments targeted cities, residential areas, schools, and hospitals, directly impacting children. These attacks, clear examples of war crimes, endangered children's lives through the use of chemical weapons and anti-personnel mines.

Gross Violation of Children's Fundamental Rights

Throughout the war, we witnessed gross violations of the rights of Iranian children in armed conflict, which are now recognized by the UN Security Council.

In the first six months of the war, over 413 attacks were carried out on Iranian cities, leading to the martyrdom of 4,600 civilians by 1984, including many children. For example, an attack on residential areas in Kermanshah resulted in 131 martyrs, a significant number of whom were children. Chemical attacks, such as the bombing of Sardasht with mustard gas on June 28, 1987, poisoned thousands, and children, due to respiratory problems, were the primary victims of these brutal attacks.

UN reports indicate that many pregnant women and their fetuses were not spared from the Ba'ath regime's attacks. In another instance, following the targeting of the village of Zarde in Kermanshah during the bombardment of a religious ceremony, 30 percent of the village's population was martyred; among the statistics of martyrs, the names of five children under the age of 10 are listed.

Attacks on Schools and Hospitals

The start of the war, which coincided with the beginning of the academic year, disrupted the country's educational system. Following the bombing of a school in Behbahan, 69 students were martyred and 130 were injured. In Khorramshahr, about 100 schools and four hospitals were completely destroyed. For example, due to the Ba'ath regime's attacks on the Zeynabieh and Fatemah al-Zahra schools in Miandoab, over 30 students were martyred. In Borujerd, missiles hit schools, killing 60 people, including deaf students. These attacks were a clear violation of the principle of distinction in international humanitarian law, and while depriving children of their right to education, they robbed the sweet lives of Iran's future generations.

According to published reports, the Ba'athist army would take Iranian civilians captive in occupied areas. On September 24, 1980, in the city of Sumar, Kermanshah, children and women were abducted by Saddam's army, and some were not even repatriated after the war ended, leaving them with an unknown fate. These actions were completely contrary to the Geneva Conventions and the prohibition of transferring children to unknown camps.

Long-Term Effects of the Eight-Year War on Children

The long-term effects of Iraq's imposed war on Iranian children manifested in many cases as profound and lasting, also affecting future generations. This bitter legacy deprived innocent children of their fundamental rights and cast a shadow over their physical, mental, and social well-being.

Children injured in chemical attacks, due to severe respiratory problems caused by mustard gas, were forced to carry heavy oxygen tanks; thus, they were not only prevented from continuing their education, but their daily lives turned into a constant struggle. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) also became increasingly prevalent among children, especially those who lost their parents on the front or lived with disabled and injured fathers and mothers. This disorder, accompanied by symptoms such as chronic anxiety, night terrors, and isolation, hindered their emotional and social development and even affected their relationships and professional performance in adulthood.

Anti-Kids Mines

These deadly weapons, among the dark remnants of the war on Iran's green land, continue to claim the lives of many innocent children. By 2006, over 16 million mines remained in three million hectares of land in western Iran. This tragedy persists and is expected to remain unresolved until 2025. Children become victims of explosions while playing in fields or former war zones. For example, according to reports from families in Khuzestan province, there have been cases where a family lost three children in such incidents.

Recent reports indicate that in 2024, at least 57 civilians, including children, were martyred or injured due to explosions of landmines leftover from the war era, and in July 2025, two children aged 10 and 11 lost their sweet lives on the borders of Shush. These mines, often laid irregularly, have not only caused the martyrdom of countless children but have also, in some cases, led to permanent disabilities. Accordingly, the Islamic Republic of Iran has consistently undertaken extensive demining efforts, but the danger of these anti-personnel mines continues to threaten the lives of many residents of border cities.

Future Generations, Victims of Past Killers

Chemical weapons not only poisoned and disabled children of the war era but also, by contaminating the environment and causing genetic changes, increased congenital defects in infants of subsequent generations. Scientific studies show that fathers exposed to mustard gas faced a higher risk of having children with physical abnormalities such as congenital defects. Mothers exposed to mustard gas also faced risks of miscarriage, premature birth, or giving birth to children with respiratory and neurological problems, and this cycle of suffering continues.

The Role of the United Nations in this Tragedy

The role of the United Nations in this disaster was profoundly disappointing and demonstrated discrimination within the international system. Despite the existence of strong legal frameworks such as the Geneva Conventions (1949), the Additional Protocols (1977), and the UN General Assembly resolution of 1974 for the protection of women and children in conflicts, no practical and effective action was taken to protect Iranian children.

The Security Council, which is tasked with supporting peace and justice, only vaguely referred to the observance of humanitarian law in Resolution 540, did not mention children by name, and did not even condemn the Ba'ath regime for its war crimes. While Saddam committed gross violations with the support of Western powers, this deliberate negligence highlighted the moral and legal failure of the United Nations and doubled Iran's victimhood.

The imposed war by the Ba'ath regime on Iran carved deep wounds into the hearts of innocent children, like a tableau of suffering and resilience painted on the canvas of time. With every drop of blood shed by a child and every tear they cried, a story of victimhood and courage was depicted; a story whispered in the silence of the ruins and the murmur of landmine explosions. This battle not only wounded the soil of Iran but also darkened the pure spirit of childhood with the smoke of crimes, leaving a sorrowful legacy of global indifference.

The United Nations, like a lifeless observer, watched this catastrophe, and its silence stands as a witness to its inability to confront oppression. In this, every stone and every patch of soil in Iran cries out with the memory of these young victims, asking history to preserve these sufferings, not as a bitter end, but as a mirror that shows the true face of war to future generations. Every crack in this mirror reflects a narrative of the bravery and sacrifice of the children of this land.