Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for legal and international affairs has condemned the United States for the lasting human and environmental consequences of its nuclear tests in the Marshall Islands, calling on Washington to accept responsibility while criticizing its record of lecturing other countries on nuclear issues.
Kazem Gharibabadi said in a post on X on Thursday that the 67 US nuclear tests conducted in the Marshall Islands, a group of low-lying coral atolls and islands in the central Pacific Ocean, and their consequences over the decades were “irrefutable evidence” of the responsibility of nuclear powers.
He stressed that the US should address the legacy of its nuclear activities rather than lecture other countries on nuclear issues.
“The conduct of 67 U.S. nuclear tests in the Marshall Islands and their human and environmental consequences over the past decades constitute irrefutable evidence of the responsibility borne by nuclear powers,” Gharibabadi said.
He also called on Washington to be held accountable for its “own crimes,” compensate victims and commit itself to greater transparency and nuclear disarmament.
“Instead of lecturing others, the United States should be held accountable for its own crimes, make reparations to the victims, and commit to transparency and nuclear disarmament,” Gharibabadi stressed.
His remarks came as the longstanding consequences of the US nuclear testing program remain an international concern, with a UN report presented on Thursday urging Washington to step up efforts to address the health and environmental legacy of the tests, including by improving healthcare for affected people and declassifying relevant documents.
The US conducted 67 nuclear tests in the northern Marshall Islands between 1946 and 1958, primarily at Bikini and Enewetak Atolls. The tests displaced local populations and left areas contaminated by radioactive material.
The 1954 Castle Bravo thermonuclear test at Bikini Atoll was the largest US atmospheric nuclear test, with an estimated yield of 15 megatons, and its radioactive fallout affected inhabited atolls, including Rongelap and Utrik.
