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 · 1980–2025

Landmines and explosive remnants of the Iran–Iraq war in Iran's western provinces

Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured. Disputed
What the record lacks: 2 none on record · 3 not disclosed · 1 not measured · 3 disputed · 1 unclear See the gaps
Accounts of the harm differ
Size of the remaining mine and ordnance contamination in the western provinces

Mined and contaminated land left by the 1980–88 war in five provinces bordering Iraq is being cleared by a state programme and by commercial operators in oil and gas areas. Official contamination figures differ widely between years, and Iran's mine action centre declined to provide data in 2025.

Some 20 per centAgricultural land whose rehabilitation unidentified minefields may delay (UN expert team, 1991)
Report S/23322, para. 134. Later official contamination figures differ between sources and are listed under disputes.

Status As of May 2025: IRMAC declined to provide information to Mine Action Review; clearance and survey figures for 2023 and 2024 were not reported.

What?
Mined and contaminated land from the 1980–88 war in five western provinces, a state demining programme and commercial clearance in oil and gas areas. Mine Action Review (Norwegian People's Aid)
Where?
Ilam, Khuzestan, Kermanshah, Kurdistan and West Azerbaijan provinces along the Iraqi border. Mine Action Review (Norwegian People's Aid)
When?
From the 1980–88 war to 2025; Kermanshah declared free from landmines in 2012; latest report May 2025. Mine Action Review (Norwegian People's Aid)
Who?
Gained
None on record
Lost
None on record
Harmed
  • Agricultural land in the western provinces — Some 20 per cent of affected land may see rehabilitation delayed by unidentified minefields (UN team, 1991) United Nations Security Council
  • People in border areas — At least 10 persons killed, maimed or wounded daily, as claimed by the Ministry of Health in 1991 United Nations Security Council
Why?
Mines and explosive remnants were left by the 1980–88 war; some contamination lies in mountains and marshes. Mine Action Review (Norwegian People's Aid)
How?
The state programme and PEDEC-contracted commercial operators clear contamination; flooding, mine degradation and vegetation hinder clearance. Mine Action Review (Norwegian People's Aid)
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

The 1980–88 war left mined and contaminated land in five western provinces bordering Iraq: Ilam, Khuzestan, Kermanshah, Kurdistan and West Azerbaijan. In 1991 a UN expert team recorded that unidentified minefields "may delay the rehabilitation of some 20 per cent of the affected agricultural land".

Mine Action Review (Norwegian People's Aid) reported that, according to the Iran Mine Action Center (IRMAC), the "initial estimation of undefined 'contamination'" was 42,000 km², of which Ilam held 17,000, Khuzestan 15,000, Kermanshah 7,000, Kurdistan 1,500 and West Azerbaijan 1,500, and that by February 2020 this "had reportedly been reduced by '90%'". Mine Action Review 2017 recorded other figures: Defence Minister Hossein Dehghan said in 2014 that 4,500 km² of contamination in the five western provinces "had been reduced to 280km2"; the Ministry of Defence headline of 8 April 2014 read "In Iran 28,000 hectares of land are landmine-contaminated"; Iran's mine action authorities "have consistently reported that the war left 4,200km2"; and IRMAC gave remaining contamination of 250 km² in February 2014.

Some remaining contamination was said to lie in "impassable mountainous areas" or in marshes. Kermanshah was declared "free from landmines" in 2012, but casualties followed days later. In 2020 IRMAC listed flooding that displaces munitions, mines sinking "up to six metres below the surface", degradation of mines and vegetation as clearance challenges. PEDEC, the development arm of the National Iranian Oil Company, "contracts and monitors commercial operators conducting clearance of Iran's oil and gas producing areas"; no amounts are given.

Mine Action Review also recorded reports and allegations that Iran has laid new anti-personnel mines for border security, which Iran's government reportedly describes as "defence tools". It recorded that Iran is not a party to the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention and so has no Article 5 clearance deadline. President Hassan Rouhani said in May 2017, as reported in Iran Daily, that countries that supplied Iraq with mines did not give Iran technology to clear them; the Defence Minister said in April 2023 that "Iran has acquired the knowledge to produce demining equipment".

  1. 1991UN expert team records that unidentified minefields may delay rehabilitation of some 20 per cent of affected agricultural land
  2. 2012Kermanshah declared "free from landmines"; casualties followed days later
  3. 2014Defence Minister: contamination in five western provinces reduced from 4,500 km² to 280 km²; IRMAC gives 250 km² (February); Ministry of Defence headline of 28,000 hectares (8 April)
  4. 2020IRMAC presentations: initial 42,000 km² estimate reportedly reduced by 90% (February)
  5. 2025IRMAC declined to provide information to Mine Action Review (May)

What was said

Claims, in the words of those who made them.

“may delay the rehabilitation of some 20 per cent of the affected agricultural land”

“Iran has acquired the knowledge to produce demining equipment”

“In May 2025, Mine Action Review made renewed inquiries to IRMAC. IRMAC declined to provide information”

Where accounts differ

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

Size of the remaining mine and ordnance contamination in the western provinces
Government and regulators
IRMAC (Iran Mine Action Center)

Initial estimate of undefined contamination 42,000 km², reportedly reduced by 90% by February 2020.

Mine Action Review (Norwegian People's Aid)
Government and regulators
IRMAC (Iran Mine Action Center), February 2014

Remaining contamination of 250 km².

Mine Action Review (Norwegian People's Aid)
Government and regulators
Defence Minister Hossein Dehghan

In 2014 said 4,500 km² of contamination in the five western provinces had been reduced to 280 km².

Mine Action Review (Norwegian People's Aid)
Government and regulators
Iran's Ministry of Defence

Headline of 8 April 2014: "In Iran 28,000 hectares of land are landmine-contaminated".

Mine Action Review (Norwegian People's Aid)
Government and regulators
Iran's mine action authorities

Have consistently reported that the war left 4,200 km².

Mine Action Review (Norwegian People's Aid)
Whether Iran has laid new anti-personnel mines for border security
Communities and civil society
Mine Action Review (Norwegian People's Aid)

Recorded reports and allegations that Iran has laid new anti-personnel mines for border security.

Mine Action Review (Norwegian People's Aid)
Government and regulators
Government of Iran

Reportedly describes them as "defence tools".

Mine Action Review (Norwegian People's Aid)

How it looked

What was shown, beside what was recorded.

Shown

Recorded

Who gained

Money that reached nature, beside money that stayed elsewhere.

Reached nature or the ground

Not published
No figure published.

Gained elsewhere

Not totalled
Currency: USD · Window: . All figures cover the same period. * Estimate built from cited figures.

Responses on record

  • Iran Mine Action Center (IRMAC) (May 2025): Declined to provide information in response to Mine Action Review's renewed inquiries. · Mine Action Review (Norwegian People's Aid)
  • Government of Iran (May 2017; April 2023): President Rouhani said countries that supplied Iraq with mines did not give Iran technology to clear them; the Defence Minister said Iran had acquired the knowledge to produce demining equipment. · Mine Action Review (Norwegian People's Aid)

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.

Agricultural land whose rehabilitation unidentified minefields may delay
Some 20 per cent
UN expert team, 1991
Provinces affected
5
Ilam, Khuzestan, Kermanshah, Kurdistan, West Azerbaijan

What we don't know

Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.
Key earnings undisclosedDeaths reported

Nature

  • Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.
  • Disputed Size of the remaining mine and ordnance contamination in the western provinces

Accounts

  • Disputed Whether Iran has laid new anti-personnel mines for border security

Record

  • Disputed Disputed: official contamination figures differ between sources: IRMAC's initial estimate of 42,000 km² reportedly reduced by 90% by 2020; the Defence Minister's 4,500 km² reduced to 280 km² (2014); the Ministry of Defence's 28,000 hectares (2014); 4,200 km² as consistently reported by the mine action authorities; and IRMAC's 250 km² (February 2014).
  • Not disclosed Not disclosed: IRMAC declined to provide information in response to Mine Action Review's renewed inquiries of May 2025.
  • Not disclosed Not disclosed: release, clearance and survey figures for 2023 and 2024 are recorded as "Not reported", as is anti-personnel mine contamination.
  • Not disclosed Not disclosed: Iran has not reported publicly on its release of mined areas in 2016 or on demining in the three previous years (Mine Action Review 2017).
  • None on record None on record: a national demining budget in any source consulted; the sums paid to commercial operators in oil and gas areas are not given.
  • Unclear Unclear: whether Iran has a national mine action standard on environmental management; Iran's environment ministry reportedly regulates environmental practices in mine action to some extent.
  • None on record None on record: insurance.

Did the harm stop?

Not stopped: contamination remained in 2020 and some of it was said to lie in impassable mountainous areas and marshes; no 2023 or 2024 clearance figures were reported.

Who paid?

None on record. PEDEC, the National Iranian Oil Company's development arm, contracts commercial clearance in oil and gas areas; no amounts are given.

Sources

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

Communities and civil society

  1. Iran: Clearing the Mines 2025
    Mine Action Review (Norwegian People's Aid) · 2025
  2. Iran: Clearing the Mines 2017
    Mine Action Review (Norwegian People's Aid) · 2017

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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