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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Tehran insists on Iran-Iraq war reparations
2004-12-21
And the dance continues...
Iran is sticking by its demand that Iraq should pay substantial reparations for the war between the two countries, the Iranian Foreign Ministry said Sunday. "The demand for war reparations and indemnities is one of our rights and there is no question of renouncing them at the moment," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said when asked about a US decision to forgive $4.1 bln of Iraqi debt, according to AFP. "Wiping off (war reparations) is not on the agenda," Asefi said, estimating that Iran affirmed $1,000 bln of damages as a result of the war.
"Plus a pony. They definitely owe me a pony."
Tehran says that former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein started the 1980-1988 war against Iran and ordered the Iraqi military to use chemical weapons against Iranian troops.
Posted by:Seafarious

#20  Joeblow, reparations are something extracted by the victors in a conflict from the loser. The UN and other noninvolved parties to the dispute don't get to say squat, let alone decide who pays whom what, when, and how. The Iran Iraq war was fought to a draw with Iraq agreeing to accept the terms of a 1975 treaty with Iran and withdraw from Iranian territory. Since nothing was ever signed between the two countries, they could still be considered to be at war, like North and South Korea. I suppose the mullahs could try and force the issue by invading. Would be interesting to watch the mullahs finest find out about US firepower.
Posted by: RWV   2004-12-21 10:33:00 PM  

#19  This just in....Jesse Mohammad Jackson offers to conduct a protest march on behalf of the Mullahs for reparations.
Posted by: Capt America   2004-12-21 10:13:04 PM  

#18  not gonna happen, Joe. The regime that fought/settled that war is no longer in power. The Kuwaitis will settle their claim for what's been paid, as well, after the elections IMHO
Posted by: Frank G   2004-12-21 10:03:45 PM  

#17  What is the enforcement mechanism?
I'm not sure exactly. The UNCC was established as a legal entity by the UN Security Council after the first Gulf War, so I assume that its judgements would be enforced by the UN Security Council Nations if Iraq chose not to honor the UNCC's decisions. Iraq of course wouldn't do that especially now because it wants to take its rightful place along with other UN nations and no longer be an outcast. Also, Iraq needs to get the okay from the IMF and the IMF is closely connected to the Paris Club, which is comprised of G8 countries and others that are creditor nations, so it appears to be a big concentric circle and Iraq needs to play ball with one organization in order to be in good standing with the other. Or at least that's my impression of how the UNCC's decisions would be "enforced."
Posted by: joeblow   2004-12-21 9:54:59 PM  

#16  What is the enforcement mechanism?
Posted by: ed   2004-12-21 8:50:42 PM  

#15  What some of you may not realize ( Mark Z.)is that no matter how nasty Saddam was and no matter how unfair it is that he accumulated debts in Iraq's name for personal gain ( loans to feather his Swiss bank accounts) or for wacko ego trips as in the case of his invasions of Iran and Kuwait, in the eyes of the international community and Iraq has signed on to play by IMF rules, debts accumulated under Saddam's rule are now Iraq's debts. It's only at the discretion of the individual debtor nation that debts are reduced or forgiven. Kuwait won reparation debts for Saddam's invasion to the tune of $67.9 Billion. What makes Iran's reparations bill any more laughable than Kuwait's? Personally I don't think it will be so easy as some of you may think for the new Iraqi government to dismiss Iran's reparations claim because Saddam was the aggressor with Iran like he was with Kuwait. This is serious because Iraq needs economic stability in order to move forward and to be burdened with huge debts will not be helpful to that end.

Very clever move by the Mullahs to make the Iraqis understand why they want to keep the U. S. Army in the neighborhood
What does this have to do with Iran's reparations claim? The validity of the claim will be judged by the UNCC (UN Compensations Commission)and if Iran's claim is found to be just, the IMF will recognize it too and then Iraq will need to either pay Iran reparations or negotiate with Iran - its lethal enemy - to forgive the debt. US troops in Iraq will not deter Iran from presenting its case before the UNCC.
Posted by: joeblow   2004-12-21 8:38:58 PM  

#14  I hope that is on the front page of every Iraqi broadsheet tomorrow. Whatever influence Iran hoped to have in Iraq just went down the drain.
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom   2004-12-21 8:19:43 PM  

#13  Very clever move by the Mullahs to make the Iraqis understand why they want to keep the U. S. Army in the neighborhood.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis   2004-12-21 7:28:59 PM  

#12  Great idea!

Get it from Saddam. He's got a lot of stolen money he'll never get to use again.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut   2004-12-21 7:23:35 PM  

#11  "Wiping off (war reparations) is not on the agenda,"
But, wiping off Iranian Mullahs, is on our agenda.

Jesse Jackass:
"Did somebody say reparations. The thought of reparations makes my mouth water."
Posted by: Poison Reverse   2004-12-21 6:54:12 PM  

#10  In a few years when the Iraqi army is outfitted with the latest shiny American weapons, the Iraqis will want to personally deliver to Tehran what the mullahs have comming to them.
Posted by: ed   2004-12-21 6:44:48 PM  

#9  joeblow = troll.
Posted by: Mark Z.   2004-12-21 6:32:49 PM  

#8  I don't think this situation is very funny. If Iran does not back down on the reparations bill it says is owed to Iranians by Iraqis, that's quite a large debt burden for Iraq to cope with. Actually Iran might have a legitimate case for winning at least 50% if not more of the bill it is presenting Iraq with. Saddam was the "legitimate" ruler of Iraq at the time Iraq started the war with Iran. Some of the evidence that will be used now against Saddam in his war crimes trial is that chemical weapons were used against Iran by Iraqi soldiers under Saddam's command.
Posted by: joeblow   2004-12-21 6:24:53 PM  

#7  Hell, just send the bill to Saddam.
Posted by: GK   2004-12-21 6:07:27 PM  

#6  I think that without agreeing to anything, the Iraq government should ask the Iranians to itemize their demands for reparations, writing a "business case"-style justification for each, say, $10 worth of alleged damages. In triplicate. Originals only, no copies.
Posted by: Anonymoose   2004-12-21 5:49:48 PM  

#5  ooooh, DB! I like that!
Posted by: Frank G   2004-12-21 5:35:27 PM  

#4  Iran.....the France of the Middle East.
Well, maybe they've got some old Iraqi dinars with Saddam's picture on 'em. They could send those.
Posted by: Desert Blondie   2004-12-21 5:24:04 PM  

#3  Perhaps the Mullahs would like to send witnesses to testify against Saddam for war crimes.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis   2004-12-21 5:15:36 PM  

#2  When unfurled, does this laundry list end up touching the floor?
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama   2004-12-21 5:12:31 PM  

#1  Bwahahahahahahaha!
Posted by: Mrs. Davis   2004-12-21 5:02:36 PM  

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