WMD Iran\'s Weapons of Mass

WMD

Iran's Weapons of Mass Destruction

The fear of unstable and/or unfriendly nations acquiring or building of weapons of mass destruction was a much greater source of fear in the years immediately following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Despite the somewhat more relaxed fears in the public arena concerning weapons of mass destruction, the threat of nuclear, chemical and biological weaponry in the hands of the enemies of the United States is still a very real issue, and will continue to be so as long as the United States has enemies. It can be difficult to determine the extent or even the existence of a weapons program, however. Some rogue nations, such as North Korea and, as it turns out, Iraq, seem to have inflated the progress that they had made with their weapons programs. In some cases this has been done both as a bargaining chip and a threat. By overstating the capabilities of a weapons of mass destruction program, rogue nations have something to offer to abandon in return for concessions from the United States and other countries, and at the same time can threaten other countries with events that are in actuality beyond their capabilities. But this is not the misinformation that carries the greatest danger.

There are also several countries that are suspected of having underestimated their weapons capabilities. Among these nations, which likely pose a much greater risk to the United States than those countries with weapons of mass destruction capabilities known to be overstated, is Iran. Though they have officially ceased all attempts at developing nuclear weapons Iran is actively pursuing nuclear power production, and many fear that the knowledge, expertise, and equipment/substances acquired for this purpose can be used to develop weapons if political tides shift.

There is definitely some side-stepping of the issue and probably outright deception being practiced by the Iranian government.

This makes it difficult to determine exactly how far along their weapons of mass destruction program is, and what work is currently being done to advance it further. What is known is that during the 1990s at least nine Western companies sold Iran dual technology -- that is, nuclear technology that can be used both for peaceful means of power production and for producing nuclear warheads.

And the possibility of a nuclear arsenal is only one aspect of Iran's weapons of mass destruction program that requires attention. More information has been obtained regarding Iran's chemical and biological weapons programs than their nuclear capabilities, and current intelligence reports estimate that Iran is producing one thousand tons of chemical weapons -- mainly mustard gas, phosgene, and several cyanide agents -- every year.

There are also indications that the Iranian military is developing a smallpox strain, in addition to other biologically derived delayed-action agents such as mycotoxins and ricin.