500 kg rocket discovered in Iranian Kurdistan

Two school children found a half ton rocket near a library, on Friday, in the city of Mariwan, Iranian Kurdistan.

MARIWAN, Iran (K24) – Two school children found a half ton rocket near a library, on Friday, in the city of Mariwan, Iranian Kurdistan.

Sherko Bahmani, City Council of Mariwan, told media that in Nei neighborhood of Mariwan, two students found a large, rusty rocket and informed the head librarian.The library management reported to the police immediately who examined the rocket and said that it was never exploded.

According to Bahmani, the security group that specializes in neutralizing arrived at the scene and carefully neutralized the gigantic rocket.

This official added that specialists believe the rocket is remnants of the eight-year war between Iran and Iraq (1980-1988).

To this day, in the border area between Iran and Iraq, people lose limbs due to mine explosions that were planted during the war.

Thus, the eight-year war continues to haunt Iranians and Iraqis and still directly affects the lives of people who live on the border. The war began on September 1980 when Saddam Hussein invaded Iran.

Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who had usurped power in 1979 after the 2500 years of monarchy was overthrown in Iran, called the war “defa moghadas” or the holy defense.

In March 16, 1988, Saddam Hussein gassed Iraqi Kurds in Halabja where an estimated 5000 people died in five minutes.

Iraq, which was supported by the United States at the time, has been a part of the Geneva ProtocoI since 1931, which prohibits the use of asphyxiating, poisonous or other gases, and of all analogous liquids, materials or devices, as well as the use of bacteriological methods of warfare.