Tehran Symphony Orchestra playing the Sardasht Symphony on November 19, 2025. Photo: screengrab/Rudaw
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A new symphonic work dedicated to victims of a chemical attack on a Kurdish town of Iran decades ago is being recorded by the Tehran Symphony Orchestra and will debut Thursday at a meeting of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in The Hague.
The Sardasht Symphony commemorates the June 28, 1987 chemical attack on Sardasht in western Iran (Rojhelat), when sulfur mustard exposure killed an estimated 110 to 130 people immediately and left around 8,000 others affected. The attack was carried out during Iraqi former dictator Saddam Hussein’s campaign against Kurds in the final phase of the Iran-Iraq War.
Composer Bahman Qobadi said he was approached three months ago by the Association for the Defense of the Rights of Chemical Victims in Sardasht County to develop a musical work that captures the experience of the community.
“We can see that the symphony shows that something has happened like an explosion, an explosion has happened. Afterwards, I don’t know, after such a catastrophe, society is ruined. Each person is searching for a dear one. Each is missing for a missing person, a valuable person who is missing,” Qobadi told Rudaw.
“No Kurd left Sardasht towards Grdi Sur [Red Hill]. No, everyone was [searching] for their dear ones and were helping each other. This is what I wrote. I wrote this in the language of music. I tried to deliver this to as many Kurdish listeners and non-Kurdish listeners,” he added.
Qobadi said the composition incorporates Kurdish folkloric elements, including themes linked to later atrocities such as the 1988 Halabja chemical attack.
“I benefited from Kurdish folk music. I thought it must be present [used]. Several months after the Sardasht catastrophe, we suffered a larger catastrophe in Halabja, before spring. This is why I made use of [renowned Kurdish singer] Hassan Zirak’s melody, Today is spring, as a paradox. Today is spring, but what kind of spring?”
In March 1988, Iraqi warplanes used chemical weapons on Halabja, killing at least 5,000 people - mostly women and children - and injuring thousands more.
Vocalist and recording supervisor Reza Asgarzadeh said the Sardasht attack left a lasting impact on him through a close friend who worked with the International Committee of the Red Cross at the time.
“That catastrophic and tragic event was never unfamiliar to me. At the time of the incident, I had a very close friend who was a Red Cross member who had come to Iran to help with that incident. I was in close contact with that close friend of mine. I saw a collection of photos through a close friend that ordinary people hadn't seen. From that time, I became aware of the depth of the catastrophe,” Asgarzadeh told Rudaw.
The symphony’s recording marks one of the most prominent cultural tributes to Sardasht’s victims and aims to raise international awareness of chemical weapons survivors across the region.
The Sardasht Symphony commemorates the June 28, 1987 chemical attack on Sardasht in western Iran (Rojhelat), when sulfur mustard exposure killed an estimated 110 to 130 people immediately and left around 8,000 others affected. The attack was carried out during Iraqi former dictator Saddam Hussein’s campaign against Kurds in the final phase of the Iran-Iraq War.
Composer Bahman Qobadi said he was approached three months ago by the Association for the Defense of the Rights of Chemical Victims in Sardasht County to develop a musical work that captures the experience of the community.
“We can see that the symphony shows that something has happened like an explosion, an explosion has happened. Afterwards, I don’t know, after such a catastrophe, society is ruined. Each person is searching for a dear one. Each is missing for a missing person, a valuable person who is missing,” Qobadi told Rudaw.
“No Kurd left Sardasht towards Grdi Sur [Red Hill]. No, everyone was [searching] for their dear ones and were helping each other. This is what I wrote. I wrote this in the language of music. I tried to deliver this to as many Kurdish listeners and non-Kurdish listeners,” he added.
Qobadi said the composition incorporates Kurdish folkloric elements, including themes linked to later atrocities such as the 1988 Halabja chemical attack.
“I benefited from Kurdish folk music. I thought it must be present [used]. Several months after the Sardasht catastrophe, we suffered a larger catastrophe in Halabja, before spring. This is why I made use of [renowned Kurdish singer] Hassan Zirak’s melody, Today is spring, as a paradox. Today is spring, but what kind of spring?”
In March 1988, Iraqi warplanes used chemical weapons on Halabja, killing at least 5,000 people - mostly women and children - and injuring thousands more.
Vocalist and recording supervisor Reza Asgarzadeh said the Sardasht attack left a lasting impact on him through a close friend who worked with the International Committee of the Red Cross at the time.
“That catastrophic and tragic event was never unfamiliar to me. At the time of the incident, I had a very close friend who was a Red Cross member who had come to Iran to help with that incident. I was in close contact with that close friend of mine. I saw a collection of photos through a close friend that ordinary people hadn't seen. From that time, I became aware of the depth of the catastrophe,” Asgarzadeh told Rudaw.
The symphony’s recording marks one of the most prominent cultural tributes to Sardasht’s victims and aims to raise international awareness of chemical weapons survivors across the region.
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