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Defector: Iran recruited Soviet biological weapons scientists

WASHINGTON -- Iran and other rogue states have targeted tens of thousands of former Soviet biological weapons scientists and some of them are working in Teheran's weapons of mass destruction program, a Soviet defector has told Congress.

Ken Alibek, former deputy director of the Soviet civilian biological weapons program, warned that many of 70,000 employees of biological weapons laboratories are the target of recruitment by rogue states for their expertise. He said he could not estimate how many of them are actually working in the biological weapons programs of such states as Iran, Iraq and Syria.

"Many of these scientists live in the United States and in Great Britain," Alibek told the House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday. "It's absolutely clear some of them are working in Iran now."

A Pentagon official said more than 20 countries are suspected of achieving biological weapons capability.

Alibek said the United States is 25 to 30 years behind in the development of vaccines against biological weapons. He said Washington is also way behind Moscow in the development of biological weapons.

"I didn't want to say this, but we have a problem developing protection against biological weapons," Alibek said. "Now we have a very significant gap between our defense and what can be [used offensively against us]. Russia has at least two strains of plague which are resistant to vaccines."

In 1994, Russian President Boris Yeltsin announced the termination of his country's biological weapons program. But Moscow has refused to allow the United States access to its laboratories.

Regarded as a leading CIA source on Russian biological weapons program, Alibek said the Soviet Union has developed at least 100 strains of killer bacteria for use in weapons. In contrast, United States is still developing antidotes for those strains manufactured in the 1970s.

Alibek, who defected in 1992, recommended research in strengthening the human immune system to resist all viruses.

"It's quite a long shot, but in three, five, seven years, we may be able to say biological weapons are not a threat anymore," he said. "If we continue efforts to develop vaccines, we will always be developing new, and new, and new [medicines]."

The Defense Department is trying to develop vaccines that can handle more than one virus.