The 29th Conference of States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) was held in The Hague, The Netherlands from 25 to 29 November 2024. Diplomatic delegations and high-ranking officials from 193 member states of the organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) were present at the conference. Representatives of the Tehran Peace Museum and the Chemical Weapons Victims Association, while attending the conference, held a side event, read a statement, and met with diplomatic delegations and members of other NGOs from different countries around the world during the conference. The Tehran Peace Museum, as a members of the CWC NGO Coalition, has had close ties with the OPCW in recent years, and has been actively involved in supporting victims of chemical weapons and raising awareness about the effects and consequences of these weapons on human health and the environment.

Chemical Warfare victim Mr. Ahmed Gholamifard, died of respiratory failure on January 1^st, 2024.

He sustained severe lung and eye injuries due to mustard gas exposure in January 1987 During the Iran-Iraq war, and suffered from chronic complications of chemical injuries for more than three decades, including tracheal stenosis and corneal damag.

Mr. Gholamifard, who was a resident of Mashhad, was an active volunteer member of the Association for the Support of Chemical Weapons Victims and the Tehran Peace Museum. He participated in various social programs including international events: he spoke as a representative of chemical weapons victims at the annual onference of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in The Hague in 2018. He was also one of the 4 chemical warfare survivors who appeared in the court of the Netherlands in The Hague in June 2023 during the trial of two Dutch companies that sold chemicals to the Saddam regime and testified as a mustard gas victim.

Due to the severe narrowing of his airways (trachea), Ahmad had undergone many surgeries, including airway stenting and several corneal transplants, but he was still full of hope and was active in various cultural, social and educational programs. ..Tehran Peace Museum expresses its condolences to the respected family of Mr. Gholamifard and the community of chemical warfare survivors ..... May his soul rest in peace.....

The 2^nd training session on “ introduction to Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons – OPCW – “ was held on Monday 10 June 2024 at the Tehran Peace Museum.

The event was attended by over 30 participants mostly postgraduate students of law, international relations as well as chemistry and biology.

A number of former OPCW staff members from inspectorate, International Cooperation and Assistance Division as well as two former OPCW Interns were among the speakers of this training session.

Ms Elisabeth Waechter, Head of Public Relations and Spokesperson of the OPCW was one of the speakers of the event who joind the training session via a live video call.

In her remarks, Mr Waechter provided brief information regarding the current and future activities of the OPCW and the role of civil society in promoting the goals of the OPCW and the Chemical Weapons Convention then she answered a number of questions from the audience.

Participants were also given chance to learn on how to use personal protective equipment in chemical incidents in a practical training.

The Tehran Peace Museum organizes such training sessions in regular basis to raise awareness among university students and young generation on the role of international organizations in promoting global peace/disarmament.

November 30th is the International Day of Remembrance for all Victims of Chemical Weapons

This day, which was unanimously named by the member states of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and is included in the calendar of the United Nations' global events, is an opportunity to recall the danger of chemical weapons and the need to completely destroy the arsenals of these weapons, as well as a call to 4 non-member states to join immediately without condition to the convention on the prohibiting of the production, development, stockpiling and use of chemical weapons.

Also, this day is an opportunity to commemorate those who lost their lives as a result of such prohibited weapons, as well as those who suffered long-term illnesses and complications due to exposure to chemical weapons, including the victims of chemical weapons in Iran.

It should be remembered that despite the global ban on the use of chemical weapons, which were first used in the First World War, in the war imposed by Iraq against Iran (1980-1988), Saddam's regime used more than 3 thousand tons of deadly and highly toxic chemical weapons against the combatants and the defenseless people of the border areas of Iran, as a result of these attacks, nearly one million people were exposed to chemical agents, and more than one hundred thousand people were treated for serious chemical injuries, and thousands of people lost their lives.

Today, more than three decades have passed since the end of the war, nearly 65,000 chemical warfare survivors in Iran are still suffering from chronic diseases caused by chemical weapons, and many of them need continuous medical treatment.