Chemical weapon proliferation
On July 11, 2007, with the help of the U.S. government's Nunn–Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction program, the Ministry of Defence announced the successful destruction of the entire stockpile.
[6] According to the testimony from Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research Carl W. Ford before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, it is very probable that China has an advanced chemical warfare program.
There are numerous reasons for this belief: In testimony before the Subcommittee on Seapower: Strategic and Critical Materials in 1991, US Navy Rear Admiral Thomas Brooks cited this evidence in identifying Egypt as a "probable" country to have chemical weapons.
The delivery vehicles Iran supposedly had in their possession included artillery shells, mortars, rockets and aerial bombs.
According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington D.C.–based think tank, Iran currently has at least two major facilities for the research and production of chemical weapons.
In the official declaration submitted to OPCW, the Iranian government admitted that it produced mustard gas in 1980s but ceased the offensive program and destroyed stockpiles of operational weapons after the end of the war with Iraq.
After launching a research effort in the 1970s, Iraq was able to use chemical weapons in their war against Iran and to kill large numbers of their own Kurdish population in the 1980s.
In 1991, as part of the 1991 Gulf War ceasefire agreement, the United Nations passed Resolution 687 that established the Special Commission (UNSCOM).
The UNSCOM was charged with the task of destroying, removing or rendering harmless "all chemical and biological weapons and all stocks of agents and all related subsystems and components and all research, development, support and manufacturing facilities."
[20] On September 7, 2011, Hoshyar Zebari entered the OPCW headquarters, becoming the first Iraqi Foreign Minister to officially visit since the country joined the CWC.
[23] Beliefs are that Israel has a significant stockpile of chemical weapons, likely to be the most abundant in the Middle-East according to the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service.
"[24] In 1974, in a hearing before the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, General Almquist stated that Israel had an offensive chemical weapons capability.
The dimethyl methylphosphonate was bound for the Israel Institute for Biological Research in Ness Ziona, a top-secret military installation outside Tel Aviv.
The facility was also responsible for producing the poison used in a September 1997 assassination attempt on a leader of the Palestinian militant organization Hamas (Khaled Mashal).
[citation needed] Since then, Libya constructed what is believed to be the largest chemical weapon production facility in the developing world in the Rabta industrial complex.
This facility was the cornerstone of the Libyan CW program and has produced mustard gas, sarin, and phosgene since production began in the late 1980s.
[39] At an annual OPCW conference in 2019, the United States claimed Myanmar maintained a stockpile of chemical weapons dating to 1982.
[40] In November 2023, amidst a civil war, rebel groups of the Brotherhood Alliance accused the military of using chemical weapons on its forces multiple times in Shan State townships.
The technological advancement of this program is uncertain, and some sources doubt whether North Korea is able to produce large quantities of nerve agents or fit the chemical warheads on its long-range ballistic missiles.
[47] Since 1970s and 1980s, Pakistan had been long suspected of running a possible military chemical weapons program both by Soviet Union and the United States.
In 1991, Rear Admiral Thomas Brooks identified Pakistan as a "probable" chemical weapons possessor in testimony before Congress.
[51] Indian assertion is primarily based on the import of toxic chemicals and metals and the absence of their use in the civilian biochemical industry.
At least four chemical warfare production facilities have been identified in Serbia: Prva Iskra in Baric; Miloje Blagojevic in Lucani; and Milojie Zakic and Merima in Krusevac.
There are reports that South Korea is operating a secret facility in Yeongdong County, Chungcheongbuk-do Province for the destruction of chemical agents.
[59] Some past reports of uncertain credibility indicated that Sudan may have used chemical weapons against the rebels in the southern part of this country.
U.S. Department of State claims that it lacks sufficient evidence to determine whether Sudan is engaged in activities prohibited by CWC.
When questioned about the topic, Syrian officials stated that they feel it is an appropriate deterrent against Israel's undeclared nuclear weapons program which they believe exists.
[68] On August 21, 2013, testimony and photographic evidence emerged from Syria indicating a large-scale chemical weapons attack on Ghouta, a populated urban center.
On September 14, 2013, the United States and Russia announced an agreement that would lead to the elimination of Syria's chemical weapon stockpiles by mid-2014.
[citation needed] U.S. Congress was informed in 1989 that Taiwan could have acquired offensive chemical weapons capability, including stockpiles of sarin.
