NCRI, September 4 – The US State Department issued a 108-page report concerning the proliferation of nuclear weapons, indicating that Iran has an offensive biological weapons program. The report released on August 30 also points to the efforts by the Iranian Resistance exposing Tehran’s nuclear program.
The State Dept. report noted that the United States judges based on available evidence that Iran has an offensive biological weapons program in violation of the Bureau of Verification and Compliance. Iran is technically capable of producing biological warheads for a variety of delivery systems, including missiles.
In spite of its growing indigenous manufacturing capability, Iran continues to aggressively seek foreign technology, training, and expertise to advance its biotechnology industry.
The United States believes Iran has manufactured and stockpiled blister, blood, and choking chemical agents, and weaponized some of these agents into artillery shells, mortars, rockets, and aerial bombs.
The report cites efforts by the Iranian resistance to expose the mullahs’ attempts to acquire nuclear weapons and says: “In February 2003, an Iranian opposition group alleged publicly that Chinese experts were continuing to work at Iran’s Saghand uranium mine as supervisors.”
It reported that the United States concludes that Iran is in pursuit of proliferation of nuclear weapons and related technologies in noncompliance with the NPT Treaty.
The report also says: “Iran has conducted research, in some cases extensively, in several enrichment technologies, including gas centrifuge, and laser isotope separation. In August 2002, an Iranian opposition group revealed the existence of two covert nuclear facilities under construction in Iran – a heavy water production plant at Arak and a "fuel production" plant at Natanz.”
As subsequently detailed by the IAEA acting on the basis of the August 2002 revelations, Iran had embarked years before upon a hugely ambitious production-scale centrifuge program. Iran confirmed to the IAEA director general in February 2003 that the Natanz site is intended to be an industrial-scale centrifuge enrichment facility, ostensibly to supply nuclear fuel.
When suspicions were raised about possible enrichment activity at the Kalaye Electric Company facility in Tehran, Iran first denied it, claiming that the facility was a warehouse or watch factory. Iran subsequently admitted that it was a nuclear-related location, but identified Kalaye as merely a centrifuge component facility. Iran then changed its story again, as the IAEA probed more closely, conceding that it had tested centrifuges there for at least five years.
Iran refused IAEA requests to conduct environmental sampling at Kalaye for many months, however, during which time it reportedly cleaned and refurbished the interior of the buildings at the facility – activities clearly intended to thwart the IAEA’s ability to obtain useful samples.
At another facility suspected of conducting laser enrichment activities, Iran similarly denied permission for IAEA sampling and moved equipment out of the building. More recently, Iran has completely razed a building at Lavisan that had been publicly identified by an opposition group as being associated with WMD-related activity, the report noted.
