Perhaps the most heart-wrenching moment of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Ceremony occurs each year at exactly 8:15 AM, when on August 6, 1945 the entire city was frozen in a flash of destruction by an American atomic bomb and time stood still.
Each year, the peace bell is rung at this precise moment by the children of Hiroshima, ensuring that future generations never lose sight of this horrific tragedy.
Today, at this moment, I joined those in mourning to honor the fallen, offering my prayers for the eternal peace of their souls.
Hiroshima remains a permanent testament to the necessity for a world free of weapons of mass destruction.
Having endured the horrific use of chemical weapons in the 1980s by the Western-backed Iraqi dictator of that time, Iran remains a committed partner in this vital global endeavor.
Amb.