[1] The gas attacks occurred during the Iran–Iraq War when Iraq frequently used chemical weapons against Iranian civilians and soldiers.

Because Sardasht was not considered a military target, the population was both unprotected and unprepared for a chemical weapons assault.

Living close to the border and the war front, citizens had become accustomed to Iraqi bombardment with conventional weapons.

Due to the direction of the wind, the hospital and convalescent center were contaminated, and the few doctors and nurses who were working there had to leave.

Many of these 3,000 victims left the city for the villages and attempted to treat themselves using traditional medicines; the lack of documentation of their exposure and treatment lead to difficulty in obtaining government benefits.

Iranian NGOs also has the annual exhibition in The Hague, the Netherlands, liaising with associations of victims of weapons of mass destruction in other countries, establishing a peace museum focusing on the effects of chemical weapons, membership in the International Network of Peace Museums, participation in the anniversary of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan.