The United States suspects that one or more Iranian
chemical weapons facilities could have been damaged or destroyed in a major
earthquake in northwestern Iran over the weekend.
U.S. intelligence sources said the epicenter of the earthquake struck a
region in which several CW facilities were situated. They said the
facilities were producing nerve gas and other agents meant to be weaponized
in
Iranian missiles and bombs.
The largest facility suspected of being damaged of destroyed is located
in Qazvin, about 150 kilometers west of Teheran. The plant was completed in
1988 and termed a pesticide producing facility.
"While supposedly a pesticide plant, the facility's true purpose seems
to have been poison gas production using organophosphorous compounds," a
1998 report by the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International
Studies said.
About 230 people Ñ a lower estimate from the original 500 Ñ were
killed in the weekend earthquake, Iranian media reports said. They said the
quake destroyed about 100 villages in northwestern Iran.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, responsible for the nation's WMD
programs, were rushed to Qazvin to assess the damage of the earthquake to
strategic facilities in the province. Army troops were also sent to help
deal with any damage of the CW installations.
U.S. intelligence sources suspect that other CW facilities are based in
such cities as Damghan and Parchin. They said these facilities launched
operations in 1989 and were meant to produce agents for ballistic missile
warheads.
Iranian parliamentarians have voiced concern over the safety of these
nonconventional weapons plants. They have termed the greatest danger at the
facility in Pasdaran.
The CIA said in a report earlier this year that Iran, a signator of the
Chemical Weapons Convention has manufactured and stockpiled chemical
weapons. These include blister, blood, choking, and probably nerve agents,
and the bombs and artillery shells to deliver them.
"During the first half of 2001, Teheran continued to seek production
technology, training, expertise, equipment, and chemicals from entities in
Russia and China that could be used to help Iran reach its goal of having an
indigenous nerve agent production capability," the report said.