Concluding Observations Committee on the Rights of the Child CRC/C/IRN/CO/3-4 para
40
Full recommendation:
The Committee urges the State party to clear its entire territory from landmines and all remnants
of the war as soon as possible, with the support of international organisations.
Assessment
During the 8-year war between Iraq and Iran, around 20 million anti-personnel landmines were
planted on approximately 16,200 square miles of land along the Iran-Iraq border. 30 years after
the end of the war, these landmines continue to claim lives as there has not been a concerted
effort from the Iranian government to clear the border.1 By 2016, almost 10,000 Iranians had lost
their lives to landmine-related incidents in provinces such as Elam, Kermanshah, Khuzestan,
Kurdistan and West Azerbaijan, all of which are areas with largely minority population.
Iranian Kurdistan is the area most affected in by landmines and undetonated ammunitions.
According to KMMK-G’s data from January to September 2020, a total of 25 citizens were
victims of landmine explosions; 8 Kurdish civilians were killed and 17 were wounded due to
landmines expositions and unexploded remnants of the Iran-Iraq war.2
Recommendation Status:
This recommendation has NOT been implemented.
1
Atlantic Council: https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/iransource/landmine-survivors-feel-the-pinch-of-sanctions/
Kurdistan Human Rights – Geneva (KMMK-G) - Periodic Summary Report for the Attention of the OHCHR Desk and the UN
Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Kurdistan of Iran.
2
1