The 1991 Gulf war cost Iran $23 billion in damage, the deputy minister of agriculture Behzad Ghareh-Yazdi said Wednesday, August 15. "The occupation of Kuwait by Iraq caused $23 million in damage, including $15.4 billion in the sector of natural resources, agriculture and fishing", the official was quoted as saying by IRNA>/I>.
"A third of Iran's Persian Gulf waters were polluted by the fires set off by Iraq in 700 Kuwaiti oil wells and the explosion of platforms", he said. He also mentioned the burden of the estimated one million refugees, both Kurds and Shiite Muslims, who fled to Iran when the war broke out.
The assessment of Gulf war damage was carried out by a team of government officials and academics and financed by the UN up to $17.7 million. On June 20, Iran called on the UN to urge Iraq to pay a compensation for having polluted the Persian Gulf. ― (AFP, Tehran)
© Agence France Presse 2001
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
