Tehran, March 28, IRNA -- Ever since UN Resolution 598 calling for a cease-fire in the 8-year Iraqi-imposed war was accepted by Iran in 1987, the payment of reparation by the intruder was put high on Iran's diplomatic agenda for later negotiations on the issue.

Once the war ended in 1988, peace negotiations between Iran and Iraq got underway in the UN premises in Geneva. Iran's attempts for receiving the reparation of the imposed war damage have so far been to no avail and the intruding Iraqi regime has refrained from payment.

Based on the appraisals, the damages imposed on Iran by the demolition of the economic infrastructures, urban structures, residences, roads, plants in border areas, industrial and public services as well as the expenses of war and supply of the special war requirements exceeded dlrs one trillion.

Eight years of imposed war also claimed the lives of around 200,000 young manpower of high potential as well as the related material and spiritual losses, tens of thousands of prisoners of war (PoW) and those missing in action which left thousands of bereaved women and children.

Moreover, Iranian government has to pay annually large sums of money for the treatment of chemically-injured war victims and the compensation of drastic material losses inflicted on the national economic infrastructures.

On the other hand, to make up for the backwardness of the border provincial areas, which during the eight-year war not only underwent heavy damage but have also been deprived from the development trend due to the prevailing war conditions, extra expenses are annually imposed on the Iranian community.

The actual damages of the imposed war, which are to be paid to Iran by Iraq, will undoubtedly be several times the initial appraisal.

The human losses incurred during eight years of imposed war notably Iran's best devoted people martyred in the war, the injured, people missing in action and the chemically-disabled people can hardly be assessed or compensated.

Meanwhile, Iraq owes Iran a high reparation for its unjustified confinement of Iranian PoWs on baseless reasons and the martyrdom of a great number of them by exposing them to extreme physical and psychological pressures, whose lives have been claimed by the harsh measures taken in the Iraqi prisons.

Iran's call for reparation of imposed damages was partially approved by the former UN Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar in 1990.

On December 9, 1991, after a delay of 11 years, the U.N. chief officially declared Iraq as the initiator of Iran-Iraq war and declared his grief and regret over the use of chemical weapons by the Iraqi regime against the Iranian civilians.

This was also admitted by the former US President Bill Clinton, Iraqi regime's main supporter, two years later on June 27, 1993.

Given the heavy damages inflicted by war, once it ended, the reconstruction of Iran's damaged areas including oil refineries, oil and gas pipelines, ports, railway, roads, cities, dams, power stations, telecommunications centers, and major plants got underway immediately without receiving any reparation from Iraq.

In the sixth day of the US-UK anti-Iraq war, the British Development Secretary Clair Short, in an unprecedented move, called for the payment of reparation of the 8-year war damage to Iran.

In his recent visit to New York to hold talks with the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Iraq's post-war reconstruction, he underlined the significance of payment of reparation of Iraqi-imposed war to Iran.

The British minister said that the issue should be followed up by Britain and US. Moreover, the damages inflicted on Iran by the Persian Gulf pollution during Iraq's raids against Kuwait should also be fully compensated.

During 1991 Iraq's anti-Kuwait war, millions of crude oil barrels poured into the Persian Gulf and polluted its marine and coastal environment.

Meanwhile, 600 oil wells in Kuwait were set ablaze by the Iraqi forces which inflicted heavy losses on the neighboring states, specially Iran where the forests and pastures in the area were covered by soot.

Iraq's reparation of war damages to Iran and compensation of the losses inflicted on Iran and the regional states during the past years should certainly be followed up by Iran, the world community and the UN.