“We have definitely witnessed Iranian proliferation of weapons throughout the world. And that is a very serious concern,” Karen Chandler, the director of the Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement at the US Department of State, told Rudaw in an interview on Thursday.
“One of the things that is most concerning to us is something that people often call shoulder fired missiles, or manned portable air defense systems, MANPADS. My office has a MANPADS Task Force, where we specifically look at how we can prevent the proliferation of this type of weapons from being taken into the hands of criminal and terrorist groups, and, because those shoulder fired missiles, they can target a civilian airliner and take down an airplane. So, since 2018, we have worked with the Iraqi government to train them, so that they can recognize this type of a weapon, even if it's broken down into its component parts and help prevent it from being smuggled,” she said.
In Iraq there are a number of armed groups that are backed by Iran, including the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a network of shadow Iraqi militia groups affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) that claimed responsibility for repeated attacks on US forces in Iraq, Syria, and Jordan late last year and early this year. One of the armed groups threatened US military aircraft in Iraq’s skies last year.
The US is supporting the Iraqi government in the fight against the Islamic States (ISIS) and providing them with weapons. In May 2022, Iraq's Ministry of Defense signed contracts with the US and France to import advanced weapons, despite concerns the armed groups could gain access to the weaponry.
“When the United States provides weapons to the Iraqi government, we are provided with assurances that they will be used for the purpose that we intend them to be used, and that they will be used in accordance with international humanitarian law,” Chandler said.
“If we discover that they are not using these types of weapons in accordance with international humanitarian law, whether that means they are targeting civilians, or providing the weapons to an end user who is not the authorized user, then we do not continue,” she added.
Chandler also shed light on US cooperation with both Iraq and the Kurdistan Region in land mine decontamination. Iraq is among the most contaminated countries in the world.
“We're very proud of the work that we've done with the Iraqi government and with the IKMAA [Iraqi Kurdistan Mine Action Agency], because we're able to have a very solid partnership. It's one of our largest programs in the world. We, in the past year, we've given about $40 million of assistance to Iraq, spread throughout the entire country. So, we are able to make tremendous progress. And it requires excellent cooperation with the host government, which in this case, we have,” she said.
Rudaw: Thank you so much, Karen, for this opportunity.
Karen Chandler: Thank you.
According to the international Landmine Monitor, Iraq and Kurdistan Region is the world’s most contaminated country in terms of the mined area. And I am aware that the United States is working with Iraq and the Kurdistan Region to clear these minefields. Could you speak of the programs and assistance that you have for both the Iraqi Kurdistan and Iraqi governments to destroy these landmines?
Absolutely. So, the United States is very pleased to be able to work with both the Iraqi Government and the Iraqi Kurdish Mine Action authority to work in both all of Iraq and also in the Kurdistan Region, as well. And what our work supports is for people to go out through our implementing partners, which are generally nongovernmental organizations or sometimes contractors. So, they go out and they do what's called survey to understand where all the contamination is in the land. And then they work with the, in case of the Kurdistan Region, the IKMAA, which is the Iraqi Kurdistan Mine Action authority, to determine based on the contamination that they have found, what are the areas that the ECMA would like to prioritize for decontamination. So, then what our implementing partners do is they get assigned tasks by the Iraqi Government, by the IKMAA and find out where they're going to do their work to clear specific parts of land, whether that is critical infrastructure, or agricultural land, or people's homes. The IKMAA is the one that gets to provide the priorities, and then they go out and start to do the clearance operations, clear the land and then return it to people so that it can be returned to public use.
One of the things that we really find valuable is working on things like restoring critical infrastructure, and schools, energy facilities, agricultural lands, because these affect a broad proportion of the population, but also people have found throughout the region that ISIS placed IEDs in their homes that prevent them from coming back and re-occupying their homes. So, they also do that type of work.
The area that is contaminated with landmines and non-explosive devices in the region is a very large area, it is about 650 million square meters.
Yes
What's your assessment of the work that these organizations have done to demine this land? And how long will it take to clean these areas from the mines that date from the Iran-Iraq war to the ISIS war?
So, the bad news on that is that it does take a tremendously long time to do this type of work. They survey operations to understand exactly where the clearance operations need to take place. That is very slow work. And then depending on the type of contamination, whether it's a landmine, or an IED, or some other type of unexploded ordnance, or explosive remnants of war, that can take a very long time.
One of the most important things that can be done is explosive ordnance risk education. So in that, then you're usually working with the local authorities in schools, and also with humanitarian organizations to help explain to people what the risk of these contaminants looks like so that, for example, a child doesn't go to a playground and see something plastic on the ground and try to pick it up and take it home is one of their treasures. We all know, anyone who has a child knows that they do that. So, they need to be educated so that they know - don't touch that, you need to call an adult for help. And then the adult can call the local authorities to come out and help clear that.
We have seen in other countries tremendous progress. In Vietnam, for example, one of the most contaminated provinces in the world is now on track to be clear by the end of this decade, but it takes a very long time. So, you really have to focus on what are the most critical priority areas to demine first.
Secondly, on the explosive ordinance risk education, to enable people to be safe while they're waiting for that decontamination to take place, we're very proud of the work that we've done with the Iraqi government and with the IKMAA, because we're able to have a very solid partnership. It's one of our largest programs in the world. We, in the past year, we've given about $40 million of assistance to Iraq, spread throughout the entire country. So, we are able to make tremendous progress. And it requires excellent cooperation with the host government, which in this case, we have.
As you mentioned the funding and financial assistance for both governments of Iraq and Kurdistan Region, how much have you requested for the fiscal year 2025 for these programs in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region?
That's actually not something that I'm able to discuss until Congress has made a decision on the budget.
So, in the Kurdistan Region more than 5,000 mine-related deaths have been recorded. This is since the Iran-Iraq war. So, besides the programs for the de-mining and also the awareness, do you have any programs to help with those people who've been injured and who've been affected with this in the region?
So, USAID has a program called the Leahy War Victims Fund and they provide victim assistance. We also have different organizations that we work with that will provide victims assistance to help with rehabilitation, and job training, things like that. So, these are done through our implementing partners. But we absolutely do fund work in that way as well.
So, in Iraq, we have a large number of militia groups, which are funded by Iran and backed by Iran, but they are not in the control of the Iraqi government and these militia groups, they have a portable defense system. Also, they have drones. They pose threats to the Kurdistan Region and to US forces in the region, and to regional security as well. So, do you have any programs to disarm these groups with the Iraqi government or at least, what concerns do you have about future security with these militia groups?
Yeah, it is something that is of grave concern. I mean, we have definitely witnessed Iranian proliferation of weapons throughout the world. And that is a very serious concern. One of the things that is most concerning to us is something that people often call shoulder fired missiles, or manned portable air defense systems, MANPADS. My office has a MANPADS Task Force, where we specifically look at how we can prevent the proliferation of this type of weapons from being taken into the hands of criminal and terrorist groups, and, because those shoulder fired missiles, they can target a civilian airliner and take down an airplane. So, since 2018, we have worked with the Iraqi government to train them, so that they can recognize this type of a weapon, even if it's broken down into its component parts and help prevent it from being smuggled.
Of course, we also have very good security cooperation with the Iraqi military. So, this is a problem that we're taking very seriously. And we work throughout the region, not just with Iraq, but with other governments in the region and with the Arab Civil Aviation Organization, to train people so that they will understand what these weapons look like if they're being smuggled.
And my last question, I am aware that the Iraqi government submitted a letter of assurance to the US government for the weapons that you're selling them or giving them that they are not being used against international laws, and also, they're not giving them to the militia groups. But we saw that the weapons that the US gave to the Iraqi government were being used by the militia groups in 2017 against the Kurdistan Region. So, what assurance do you have that these weapons that you're giving to the Iraqi Government in the end are not getting into the hands of militia groups and are not being used against international law, against minority groups in that region?
One of the things that the president requires, under the United States conventional arms transfer policy, is the recipient of any type of US security assistance, whether that is a weapons sale or weapons that we donate to other host governments, is that those weapons will be used in accordance with international humanitarian law. And we hold governments responsible for that. So, if we discover that they are not using these types of weapons in accordance with international humanitarian law, whether that means they are targeting civilians, or providing the weapons to an end user who is not the authorized user, then we do not continue. Well, we do an investigation first, but if the investigation reveals that, then we would not continue that security assistance. So we do require these assurances from the Iraqi government. And anytime there is a concern that they are not being used in accordance with international humanitarian law, then that is something that we do an investigation into it.
I said that was my last question, but I will add a quick question.
Okay.
Do you have any concerns? Or have you ever feared that the Iraqi government is coordinating with these militia groups, because we know that Iran has dominated Iraq and they have a lot of impact on the Iraqi government. Have you ever had any fear or concern that the weapons that you're providing to the Iraqi government are being used by these militia groups?
I don't think that I could comment on that. Specifically, what I can say is that when the United States provides weapons to the Iraqi government, we are provided with assurances that they will be used for the purpose that we intend them to be used, and that they will be used in accordance with international humanitarian law.
Thank you so much Karen for joining us.
Thank you. It's my pleasure.
