Lawsuit Proceedings for Victims of Use of Chemical Weapons in the Imposed War in the Judiciary of the Islamic Republic of Iran

One of the main examples of the use of chemical weapons during modern armed conflicts is the widespread use of these weapons against Iranian soldiers and civilians and even Iraqi citizens, by the Iraqi army in the imposed war resulting in thousands being martyred or injured. Meanwhile, due to the need to protect its citizens, the Islamic Republic of Iran, given the severity of the harm done to the Iranian victims of chemical attacks and their families, has the task of facilitating the litigation of these individuals from the perpetrators of the attacks. In this regard, the judiciary is also of a pivotal task for facilitating the domestic litigation of Iranian victims of chemical attacks through internal judicial mechanisms. In this framework, although the domestic courts have competence to proceed in this case, but with regard to the non-criminalization of international crimes in Iran's domestic laws, the criminal or civil litigation of Iranian chemical victims and their families from Iraqi authorities and also, the people who helped the Iraqi Ba'ath army to achieve chemical weapons are subjected to the exact criminalization of international crimes, including the use of chemical weapons as an example of war crimes. On the other hand, according to the principle of judicial immunity of states, only the international responsibility of the United States for helping the Iraqi army to be armed with chemical weapons is litigious before the domestic courts of Iran, within the framework of the principle of countermeasure.