|
Iran
Treatment of Veterans and Widows
In 1980 the Khomeini government established two special foundations
to care for those affected by war. The Foundation for Martyrs
and the Foundation for War Refugees (Bonyad-e Jangzadegan) provided
welfare and services to veterans and survivors. It also established
the Foundation for War Victims (veterans) and the Foundation for
the Disinherited (Bonyad-e Mostazafin), which looked after orphans.
With more than 1 million people killed or maimed by the war,
the cost of financing compensations and pensions mounted rapidly.
War-related expenses included the costs of the Pasdaran and the
Basij, compensations and pensions to the war disabled and the
families of the dead, the funding of the Foundation for War Victims
and the War Reconstruction Fund. Despite these mounting costs,
the government was generous to the survivors of the dead. A regular
soldier's family reportedly received compensation of US$24,000
and full salary as a pension; additionally, the equivalent of
US$60 monthly was deposited in the bank account of each of his
minor children until they reached eighteen. The government assisted
the family in renting, buying, or building a house. Less generous
amounts were paid to the families of the Pasdaran and the Basij
who died on the front. Disabled soldiers reportedly received US$30
monthly, and the seriously injured were cared for in veterans'
hospitals.
In an official Iranian publication, Summary Report: An Estimate
of the Economic Damages of the Imposed War of Iraq Against Iran,
the damages caused to the Iranian economy up to March 1983 were
cited as equivalent to US$135.8 billion, including the loss of
oil revenue (US$35 billion) and agricultural output (US$23 billion).
A dozen cities and 1,200 villages were reported destroyed and
another 19 cities partially damaged. The war had created no fewer
than 1.5 million Iranian refugees by early 1983. In 1987 more
recent documentation was unavailable, but, because of the war's
persistence, the numbers were undoubtedly larger.
Data as of December 1987
|
