Iran recalls Iraq war with week of prayers
TEHRAN, Sept 21 (AFP) - Air-raid sirens will sound across Iran on Wednesday
as the Islamic republic begins "Sacred Defence Week," seven days
of prayers and military parades in memory of the bloody 1980-1988 war
with neighbouring Iraq. (Related
photos)
The alarm will sound at the exact hour -- September 22 at 2:15 p.m.
(0945 GMT) -- that Iraqi warplanes bombarded Iran 19 years ago, setting
off a conflict that left hundreds of thousands dead and maimed on both
sides.
The week will be dedicated to remembering the Sacred Defence, as the
war is called here, but from the families of the "martyrs" who
make pilgrimages to Iran's countless military cemeteries to mourn their
dead to the thousands of disabled still seen hobbling the pavements, few
have ever forgotten it.
Iran and Iraq have yet to sign a peace treaty and, despite an ostensible
warming of ties, the two remain at odds over the return of POWs and diplomatic
relations remain at the level of charge d'affaires.
Iran's newspapers regularly lash out at Iraqi President Saddam Hussein,
accusing him of causing the ongoing suffering of the Iraqi people by
bringing on UN sanctions still in place over Baghdad's 1990 invasion of
Kuwait.
Tehran's press were especially harsh after Saddam's "Great Victory
Day" speech in August, as Baghdad held its own celebrations to mark
the end of the catastrophic war.
"Despite all the appeals for peace by Iraq ... the slogans, drums
and guns of aggression and war have persisted (from Iran)," Saddam
said. Iraq had "always sought to make reason prevail" but "does
not hesitate to use force when it becomes the only way to show the righteousness
of its cause or when reason fails to convince those who are wrong."
Iran's foreign ministry said the speech was "inspired by a feeling
of failure and humiliation."
Despite UN declarations to the contrary, Baghdad claims Iran began the
war by attacking Iraq several days earlier as the two haggled over control
of the Shatt al-Arab delta along the southeast of their border.
The political tension has never been fully defused, and Saddam's remarks
sparked renewed criticism of the Baghdad leader universally held responsible
for launching what state media here unfailingly refer to as the "Iraqi-imposed
war."
Veterans of the war, and their families, hold a revered place in Iranian
society and are granted special favours from the state.
They have priority for openings in the nation's universities, where
a state quota allots them some 40 percent of the places, and are granted
VIP access to the Islamic republic's holiest Shiite Moslem sites.
They also benefit from at least a fraction of the largesse of the Foundation
for the Disinherited, a state-run behemoth that controls huge sectors
of the nation's economy, including lucrative concessions for Western goods
such as Mercedes-Benz automobiles.
The foundation gives money and provides housing to veterans of the war,
who also have their own special seating section during weekly Friday
prayers at Tehran university.
In return the veterans show an unwavering allegiance to the principles
of the war, which began just a year after the 1979 revolution here which
toppled the monarchy and created the most purely Islamic state in the
world.
Moshen Rezai, the former commander of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards,
said recently that the war had been imposed on Iran to "bring the
revolution to its knees."
He reiterated charges that Western governments, fearful of the new Islamic
state, furnished Baghdad with chemical and nuclear weapons technology
in the latter stages of the bloody conflict.
The veterans, like current soldiers, remain loyal to the Islamic revolution
and the armed forces will hold a special ceremony this week at the mausoleum
of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic republic.
They will also gather en masse Friday for prayers in Tehran, where
enormous murals and banners across the capital keep reminding Iranians
of the war they cannot forget.
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