Other Names: None known
Address: Unknown, though it is reportedly located at the Mahsa Building in Teheran.
Website: None known
Phone Number: Unknown
Subordinate to: Office of the President
Size: At least 18 experts
Primary Function: The Science and Technology Group (STG) allegedly oversees Iran's weapons of mass destruction programs.

History: Allegedly created by President Khatami in January 1999. In 1999, Taqi Ebtekar was the head of the group and Bahari Pour (or Pur) was the director.

Activities: According to the National Council of Resistance (NCR) of Iran, this group of the president's advisors "...oversees the regime's plans and projects in the area of biological, nuclear, and chemical weapons." The NCR is a group opposed to the current regime in Iran; none of its accusations have been verified or corroborated. Nonetheless, the group claims that under the supervision of the Science and Technology Group, Iran's ruling mullah's have allegedly:

• formed the Revolutionary Gurards' 24th Bessat Brigade for Chemical Attacks,
• stockpiled huge quantities of nerve agents,
• expanded biotechnology research centers and the NBC (Nuclear, Biological, Chemical) Special Industries Organization,
• hired Chinese, Korean, and Russian experts under cover of research projects, and
• procured the required materials and technology from European countries through the use of dual-use technology.

The NCR claims that beneath the STG are four sections: the Defense Ministry's Special Industries Organization, the Jihad Construction Research Center, the Revolutionary Guards' study center at the Imam Hoseyn University, and the Biotechnology Research Center. The National Council of Resistance on Iran reports that in only one branch of the STG, the regime has already developed three biological agents—VX (though in fact a chemical agent), aflatoxin, and Bacillus anthracis—with the help of at least 18 Russian, Chinese, and Korean experts. The same source believes there are many more individuals working on these projects.

[Note: All of the sources below are either direct statements by the NCR or are quotations of direct statements by the NCR.]

Key Sources: Remarks to the Press by Soona Samsami, US Representative of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, 26 January 1999, p. 2.; Gudio Olimpio, "Khatami to Visit Rome on European Mission," Corriere della Sera (internet version), 4 February 1999; in "Italian Daily Cites MKO Report on Iran's CBW Program," FBIS Document FTS19990204000672, 4 February 1999; Arnold Beichman, "Arsenal of Germs in Iran?" Washington Times, 26 January 1999, p. A17; Rob Swanson, "Iranian Resistance Group Charges Iran Expediting Manufacture of Biological Weapons," Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, March 1999, pp. 111-115; "Iranian Opposition Highlights Regime's Biological, Chemical Projects," Iran Mojahedin WWW-Text in English, 14 August 2002; in FBIS document IAP20020816000037.

	Updated August 2003