Who gains from saving nature
Ledger 1 : 33 — For each dollar financing nature-based solutions in 2023, about $33 financed activities harmful to nature. (UNEP)
Cases / War and military activity · Iran · 1980–1991

Iran–Iraq war (1980–88): environmental damage recorded by the UN expert team in 1991 and Iran's damage estimate

Nature's voice · report
More than 250 kilometres of my beaches between Abadan and the Strait of Hormuz were covered with tar or asphalt, the UN team recorded in 1991; my mangroves and seagrass were destroyed.
Did nature suffer? Yes. Harm is on record.
Recorded
  • More than 3 million of my date palms and 5,000 ha of orchards were destroyed; about 15 to 20 per cent had been replanted by 1991. United Nations Security Council
  • Along my Karun River, economic activity was constrained by pollution and contamination, the UN team recorded in 1991. United Nations Security Council
  • More than 250 km of my coastline were oiled.
    Beaches covered with tar or asphalt between Abadan and the Strait of Hormuz.
What the record lacks: 7 none on record · 1 insufficient · 1 self-reported only · 1 not measured · 1 disputed See the gaps

A UN expert team sent under Security Council resolution 598 recorded Iran's account of war damage in 1991, including tar on more than 250 km of beaches and an Iranian government assessment of USD 97,248 million in non-military damage. No compensation mechanism for the war is on record; Iranian lawmakers later raised reparations demands.

USD 97,248 millionIran's government assessment of non-military war damage, at 1988 replacement costs
As recorded in UN document S/23322 (24 December 1991); the covering note rounds it to USD 97,200 million. Armed forces equipment is excluded and indirect losses are not discussed.

Status As of August 2018 (latest dated source): Iranian lawmakers had demanded reparations from Iraq for the 1980–88 and 1990–91 wars; no payment or claims body is on record.

What?
A UN expert team recorded Iran's account of environmental damage from the 1980–88 war, together with a government damage assessment of USD 97,248 million for non-military items. United Nations Security Council
Where?
South-western Iran, especially Khuzestan: the Karun River, the Shatt al-Arab, Abadan and Khorramshahr; the coast between Abadan and the Strait of Hormuz; border areas of five western provinces. United Nations Security Council
When?
War 1980–1988; UN expert team visits May/June and 7 November – 1 December 1991; report transmitted 24 December 1991. United Nations Security Council
Who?
Gained
None on record
Lost
Harmed
Why?
The team was sent under Security Council resolution 598 (1987), paragraph 7, to study Iran's reconstruction needs. United Nations Security Council
How?
Iran's government supplied the damage figures and environmental accounts; the team recorded them and stated that Iran's Environmental Protection Organization had not carried out conclusive surveys. United Nations Security Council
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

Under UN Security Council resolution 598 (1987), paragraph 7, the UN Secretary-General sent a team of experts to study Iran's reconstruction needs after the 1980–88 war. The team made an exploratory visit in May/June 1991 (first report S/22863) and a second and final visit from 7 November to 1 December 1991, led by Abdulrahim A. Farah, a former Under-Secretary-General. Its report was transmitted on 24 December 1991 as document S/23322.

The team recorded that along the Karun River "overall economic activities have been severely constrained owing to pollution and contamination" and that farmlands "were reported to contain dangerous substances resulting from many years of war activities". It recorded "more than 250 kilometres of beaches covered with tar or asphalt" between Abadan and the Strait of Hormuz, attributed to leaking oil tankers attacked during the conflict, with mangroves and seagrass destroyed and the prawn fishery threatened. Sunken ships and wrecks in the Shatt al-Arab were described as "another serious environmental hazard", with "no records. available on the nature of cargo carried by the ships".

On land, S/23322 recorded minefields and unexploded ordnance in border areas; the Ministry of Health claimed "at least 10 persons are either killed, maimed or wounded daily". In agriculture, "more than 3 million date palms and 5,000 ha of orchards were destroyed", of which about 15 to 20 per cent had been replanted. The team could not ascertain progress on rehabilitating "some 130,000 ha of natural forests and 753,000 ha of pasture lands in the war zone" "owing to unavailability of data". It recorded loss of soil fertility from topsoil removal, compaction and flooding, waterlogging and salinity, and, as reported by the Government, "soil and water contamination. from the toxic materials emanating from chemical and biological weapons".

Iran's government assessment of non-military war damage at 1988 replacement costs was Rls 12,994,040 million for items of domestic origin, converted at Rls 237 per dollar to USD 54,827 million, plus USD 42,421 million for imported items, a total of USD 97,248 million. Iran's Environmental Protection Organization asked for international help to fund studies on debris clearance in devastated cities, clearance of tar-polluted beaches, monitoring of Karun River pollution, effects on Gulf islands, conservation of seagrass and mangrove forests and water quality in the war-affected provinces; no amount was given.

Reparations demands followed later. On 18 August 2018 Anadolu Agency reported that Iranian MP Mahmoud Sadeghi said Iraq owed Iran "$1.1 trillion" for the 1980–88 and 1990–91 wars, and that Hishmatullah Fallah Bisha, head of parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, told ISNA "War compensation cannot be ignored in relations between the two countries". The article mentions no environmental harm and reports no direct Iraqi response.

  1. 1980War begins; fighting continues to 1988
  2. 1987Security Council resolution 598, paragraph 7, provides for the study of Iran's reconstruction needs
  3. 1991UN expert team visits (May/June and 7 Nov – 1 Dec); report S/23322 transmitted 24 December
  4. 2018MP Mahmoud Sadeghi says Iraq owes Iran "$1.1 trillion" for two wars (Anadolu, 18 Aug)

What was said

Claims, in the words of those who made them.

“overall economic activities have been severely constrained owing to pollution and contamination”

“more than 250 kilometres of beaches covered with tar or asphalt”

“has so far been unable to carry out any conclusive surveys or studies because of the high cost involved”

“War compensation cannot be ignored in relations between the two countries”

Hishmatullah Fallah Bisha, head of Iran's parliamentary National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, to ISNA · August 2018 · Anadolu Agency

Where accounts differ

Each party's account, side by side, with its source. The record does not settle these points; it shows them.

Reparations for the 1980–88 and 1990–91 wars
Government and regulators
Iranian MP Mahmoud Sadeghi

Said Iraq owes Iran "$1.1 trillion" for the two wars.

Anadolu Agency
Government and regulators
Hishmatullah Fallah Bisha, Iranian parliament committee head

Said "War compensation cannot be ignored in relations between the two countries".

Anadolu Agency
Government and regulators
Government of Iraq

No response is on record in the article.

Anadolu Agency

How it looked

What was shown, beside what was recorded.

Shown

  • Iran's government gave the UN team a damage assessment of USD 97,248 million for non-military items at 1988 replacement costs.
    Government of Iran, as recorded in S/23322 · United Nations Security Council
  • Iraq owes Iran "$1.1 trillion" for the 1980–88 and 1990–91 wars.
    Mahmoud Sadeghi, Iranian MP, as reported by Anadolu Agency · Anadolu Agency

Recorded

Who gained

Money that reached nature, beside money that stayed elsewhere.

Reached nature or the ground

Not published
Environmental studies requested by Iran's Environmental Protection Organization—
No amount was given in S/23322.

Gained elsewhere

—
Domestic items (Rls 12,994,040 million at Rls 237 per dollar)$54.8bn
Imported items$42.4bn
Currency: USD · Window: 1988 replacement costs. All figures cover the same period. * Estimate built from cited figures.

Responses on record

  • Government of Iran (1991): Gave the UN team its damage assessment of USD 97,248 million and asked for international help with environmental studies. · United Nations Security Council
  • Government of Iraq: No response to these figures is on record.

In court and with insurers

Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

Lawsuits and rulings

No court case on record. No court has ruled on this case.

Insurers

No insurer decision on record.

What nature saw

Outcomes measured on the ground, and nature's note.

Nature's report opens this page. Below: further outcomes measured on the ground.

Beaches covered with tar or asphalt
More than 250 km
Between Abadan and the Strait of Hormuz (S/23322, 1991)
Date palms destroyed
More than 3 million
Plus 5,000 ha of orchards; about 15 to 20 per cent replanted (S/23322)
Iran's government damage assessment
USD 97,248 million
Non-military, 1988 replacement costs

What we don't know

Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.
No court caseNo independent ecological evaluation

Money

  • None on record Environmental studies requested by Iran's Environmental Protection Organization — No amount was given in S/23322.

Court

Accounts

  • Disputed Reparations for the 1980–88 and 1990–91 wars
  • None on record Government of Iraq: No response is on record in the article.

Record

  • Self-reported only Self-reported only: the figures in S/23322 come from the Government of Iran as relayed to the UN team, which states that Iran's Environmental Protection Organization had been unable to carry out conclusive surveys because of the high cost.
  • Insufficient Insufficient: progress on rehabilitating about 130,000 ha of natural forests and 753,000 ha of pasture lands in the war zone could not be ascertained owing to unavailability of data.
  • None on record None on record: the cargo of the sunken ships in the Shatt al-Arab (S/23322, para. 73).
  • None on record None on record: a claims tribunal or compensation mechanism for 1980–88 damage.
  • None on record None on record: a response from the Government of Iraq to the environmental figures in S/23322.
  • Not measured Not measured: chemical-weapons residues in soil beyond the Government of Iran's statement in S/23322, para. 134.
  • None on record None on record: insurance.

Did the harm stop?

None on record. The 1991 report records damage and contamination continuing from the war years, including mines, wrecks and contaminated farmland.

Who paid?

None on record. No compensation mechanism for the 1980–88 war is on record.

Sources

Voices on record: — Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts✓ Press and investigations— Communities and civil society— Researchers✓ International bodies

Press and investigations

International bodies

Connected cases

Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
Terms used on this page

Science and environment

Hectare (ha)
A unit of area equal to 10,000 square metres, about 2.5 acres. 100 hectares make one square kilometre.
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