¡¡¡¡TEHRAN, Dec. 8 (Xinhuanet) -- Iraq had confessed that it used chemical weapons against the Iranians during the 1980-1988 war, the IRNA news agency reported, quoting Iraqi Azadi radio on Sunday.

¡¡¡¡In an interview with a Swedish state-run TV on Saturday, Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz said Baghdad was "in some sort forced to use chemical arms against Iran".

¡¡¡¡The Iraqi radio quoted Aziz as saying that "Iraq had to recourseto the chemical weapons to defend itself against Iranian troops." However, he said Baghdad did not use any chemical weapons in its invasion of Kuwait.

¡¡¡¡Egyptian Institute for Strategic Studies previously confirmed reports that Iraq had used some eight kinds of chemical and biological weapons against Iran during the eight-year war between the two neighbors.

¡¡¡¡Iraq's Azadi radio quoted the Egyptian institute as saying that sample-taking from the weapons employed by Iraq against the Iranianforces during the war revealed the fact that Baghdad used chemical and biological poisons such as sarin, anthrax, taphoon, kangrin, etc.

¡¡¡¡Baghdad had reportedly earmarked huge budget for developing its chemical and biological weapons programs.

¡¡¡¡The radio said that the United States was well aware of the Iraqi chemical and biological weapons programs against Iran.

¡¡¡¡Iranian troops were subjected to poison gas attacks during their1980-1988 war against Iraq as orders were issued by Iraqi PresidentSaddam Hussein on the use of chemical weapons against the Iranian forces, it said.

¡¡¡¡The radio added that it is a proven fact that the Iraqi president had not hesitated to resort to chemical weapons during the 1980-1988 war between Baghdad and Tehran.

¡¡¡¡Former US president Bill Clinton said on Oct. 3 that the West was silent when Iraq used chemical weapons against the Iranians during the war.

¡¡¡¡The US government provided "crop-spraying" helicopters to Iraq, gave Iraq access to intelligence information that allowed Iraq to "calibrate" its mustard attacks on Iranian troops in 1988, approved technological exports to Iraq's missile procurement agency to extend its missiles range in 1988, and blocked bills condemning Iraq in the House of Representatives in 1985 and Senate in 1988, the radio said.

¡¡¡¡The US Secretary of State at that time acknowledged reports of Iraq's use of chemical weapons as earlier as 1983 and that was confirmed by a UN team in 1984. Enditem