An elegant new monument dedicated to victims of chemical weapons was unveiled in the garden of the OPCW headquarters in The Hague during an afternoon ceremony on 26 November 2012, the first day of the 17th Session of the Conference of the States Parties.

The monument was dedicated to the OPCW by the Islamic Republic of Iran and unveiled by Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for International Affairs, H.E. Mohammad Mehdi Akhoundzadeh. OPCW Director-General Ahmet Üzümcü participated in the unveiling and addressed remarks to the gathering.

The monument was created by Mr Taher Sheykh-ol-Hokamaii, an instructor at the University of Tehran’s faculty of fine arts whose works have been exhibited in 17 countries.

The monument represents a victim gradually losing his/her life from the effects of chemical weapons whose body is simultaneously converted into peace doves.

Since the development of modern chemical warfare in World War I, hundreds of thousands of people have lost their lives or suffered life-long health problems as a result of exposure to chemical weapons, including many in Iran during the 1980s war with Iraq.