The Iranian History 1987 AD

 

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Iraq Bombs Iran Schools

Jan, 10, 1987 AD

School Kids Killed in Dezful during a raid by IraqOn the seventh year of the Iran-Iraq War, in the winter of 1987, after the successful Karbala 5 Operation by Iranian armed forces, the Iraqi army started bombing several cities in western Iran.
On Jan, 10, 1987, around 13:00 o'clock, Iraqi warplanes bombed a primary and a secondary school in Boroujerd. 60 school children were killed during this attack.
On Feb, 1, 1987, a primary school and a high school in the city of Miyaneh were attacked by Iraqi jet planes killing 33 students. Amazingly enough, this attack was announced on the Israel Radio the day before.
These attacks on civilian targets were clear signs of Saddam Hussein's impotence in the battlefield despite all kinds of support from Arab and Western countries. U.S. and its allies had been providing Iraq with military intelligence on Iranian targets.
The western media was generally silent on such civilian massacres happening in front of their eyes. Yet, supply of chemical bombs by European countries to be used in attacks against Iranian civilians in Sardasht, and shooting of an Iran Air civilian airplane on the Persian Gulf by the U.S. Navy were some of incidents to happen in order to force Iran to a peace treaty. (Updated: Feb, 8, 2010)





Islamic Republic Party Dissolved

Jun, 2, 1987 AD

A group of Iranian women demonstrating against enforced hijab that came with Islamic RepublicNine years after its formation, the Islamic Republic Party of Iran was dissolved. Founded by clerics close to Khomeini, including Bahonar, Khamenei, Rafsanjani and Beheshti, the party soon succeeded in turning Iran to a single party system in a very short time. with it's daily published Islamic Republic Newspaper, hardline policymakers established a system that advocated nationalization of large private entities which gradually turned into inefficient family farms.
On June, 28, 1981, a huge explosion in the Islamic Republic Party headquarters killed many highranking party members, including the party leader and mastermind Mohammad Beheshti. After that incident Mohammad Javad Bahonar took this position, who was also killed by another bomb while serving as prime minister. The next party leader was Ali Khamenei, the current Supreme Leader of Iran.
The party became scene of disputes and conflicts. Following intensified fractionism on major issues such as the Iran-Iraq war, opening up dialog with western countries, and disputes over economic policies, because all rival parties were banned, there seemed to have been no alternative but to dissolve the party.
The party newspaper somehow continued publishing. (Updated: May, 22, 2009)





Sardasht, Chemical Hiroshima

Jun, 28, 1987 AD

Iran Iraq War : Bodies of dead soldiers by the roadside.Sardasht should be registered in human history just like Hiroshima as a city who became victim of weapons of mass destruction. Sardasht was the first city where nerve gas was used that killed civilians. On June, 28, 1987, the city of Sardasht and its neighboring villages became target of chemical bombs at 4:30 PM. Iraq was at the verge of losing the war at the battlefields and with support from U.S. , European and Arab countries latest technology of WMD was being transferred to the notorious regime of Saddam Hussein who was not afraid of trying them on civilians. 110 people were killed in two the attacks that continued the next day, but the real toll is much higher; about 5000 people who were thus exposed to chemical weapons have been suffering ever since. Some of victims spent the rest of their lives in hospital suffering from damages cause to their respiratory systems.
After this attack, the international community was dead silent until the following year when the Baath regime bombarded Halapcha on March, 16, 1988. In that attack 5000 thousand Iraqi people were killed, mostly Kurdish women and children. It is also estimated that a further 7,000 people were injured or suffered long term illness. The chemical weapons had been presented to Iraq by European countries and a Dutch middleman who lived in Italy, escaped to Iraq in 1989. Short after he was arrested in Dec, 6, 2004, it was announced that he worked for the intelligence service of Netherlands. (Updated: Jan, 22, 2009)





Massacre Of Iranian Hajj Pilgrims

Jul, 31, 1987 AD

A beautiful view from the Mecca Prophet/Nabi Mosque with a green domeMany years after an Incident in the holy city of Mecca that led to decapitation of an Iranian pilgrim in 1944, tensions rose again in 1981 when a group of Iranian Hajj pilgrims staged political demonstrations in Mecca and Medina. After a regime change in 1979, Iranian leaders dreamt of exporting the Islamic revolution starting with neighborhood Muslim nations. This indeed was a serious threat to the reign of Persian Gulf emirates and kingdoms on one side and to the interests of U.K. and U.S on the other side. Worldwide support of Iraq during the imposed war on Iran was another reason for Iranian leaders to use every opportunity as a propaganda tool. The pattern was mainly copied from the Bolshevik Soviet Union during The Cold War.
The Sunni Arabs pursued their own agenda against increasing influence of Shiite clerics in their own countries. Funded by an orthodox Sunni Muslim sect; Wahabis promoted a different version of Islam which created extreme movements such as Al-Qaeda. Nonetheless, the Saudi leaders called Iranian political demonstrations during Hajj as blasphemy. Wahabis regarded Iranian slogans admiring their Imam as a form of polytheism.
One way or the other, on July 31, 1987, Iranian pilgrims staged a demonstration against U.S. and Israel which soon escalated to clashes between demonstrators and Saudi security forces who opened fire. The toll was 402 dead, 275 of which were Iranians. While the Saudi government blamed the incidents on the Iranian pilgrims trying to destabilize their rule, Ayatollah Khomeini called for revenge which turned to a mob attack on Saudi embassy in Tehran. After normalization of ties, Iranian authorities agreed to limit their political demonstrations to their designated compound in Mecca.
One view advises that Hajj pilgrimage should be only devoted to religious rituals while the opposite view defends the idea that Islam in essence can not ignore world political affairs. Years later, Iran is competing at the top of the list of countries violating human rights where demonstrations are suppressed brutally, political dissidents and activists are charged with spying and confined to long prison terms and sometimes get death penalties. It can be admitted that the revolution has been contained by a silent coup of revolutionaries. (Updated: Jan, 21, 2009)





U.S. Attacks Iranian Ship

Sep, 21, 1987 AD

Authorities including Khalkhali watch US Air Force rubbles left from unsuccessful Tabas operationIn a clear move to protect Saddam's regime from losing the war, U.S. navy staged some attacks on Iranian oil platforms and ships in the Persian Gulf. Iran Ajr was the name of the ship that was attacked by U.S. helicopters. In this attack some of Iranian sailors were killed while others tried to flee the ship on a motorboat. The Iranian ship was scuttled and sank in the Persian Gulf on Sep, 26. Iran Ajr was used to lay naval mines during the Iran–Iraq war. Iran's media remained oddly silent on the issue.
With the pretext of protecting U.S.-flagged petroleum-carrying ships in the Persian Gulf, U.S. violated many international laws during the Iran-Iraq war. In July, 1988, U.S. navy shot down an Iranian civilian airplane killing all passengers on board. (Updated: Jan, 22, 2009)





U.S. Attacks Iranian Oil Platforms

Oct, 19, 1987 AD

Body of a dead soldier overrun by tank during Iran-Iraq war (Extreme Graphic)The U.S. navy attacks 3 Iranian oil platforms in Persian Gulf. In a statement made by the U.S. President Ronald Reagan, the move was justified as a response to Iranian attacks. However, the statement falsely indicated that the commercial platforms were in international waters and they were used for military purposes. The unfortunate event coincided with the Black Monday when stock markets plunged sharply.
The truth behind U.S. attack was that while Iran was in the midst of a devastating war with Iraq, also triggered by the U.S. , Iraq was heavily supported militarily to avoid Iran's victory which would mean expansion of revolutionary powers. Near the end of the war when Iranians were succeeding in the battlefield, U.S. and her allies were providing Iraq with all support including arms, technology, intelligence, etc. This unfortunately included biochemical weapons that were used on Iranian civilians alongside Kurdish residents of northern Iraq.
As the next step, in July 1988, the U.S. navy shot down a civilian airplane which resulted in 290 civilian fatalities. These events will remain as a scar on the face of the American history and will explain the reason behind her downfall. (Updated: Jan, 22, 2009)





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