This annotated chronology is based on the data sources that follow each entry. Public sources often provide conflicting information on classified military programs. In some cases we are unable to resolve these discrepancies, in others we have deliberately refrained from doing so to highlight the potential influence of false or misleading information as it appeared over time. In many cases, we are unable to independently verify claims. Hence in reviewing this chronology, readers should take into account the credibility of the sources employed here.

Inclusion in this chronology does not necessarily indicate that a particular development is of direct or indirect proliferation significance. Some entries provide international or domestic context for technological development and national policymaking. Moreover, some entries may refer to developments with positive consequences for nonproliferation.

Mid-1980s
According to Jane's Intelligence Review, Iran began producing sulfur mustard and phosgene in the mid-1980s—using these weapons in the later stages of the Iran-Iraq War.
—Dr. Andrew Rathmell, "Iran's Rearmament – How Much a Threat?" Jane's Intelligence Review, 1 July 1994, p. 317.

Mid-1980s
According to Anthony Cordesman, Iran began purchasing large amounts of CW defensive gear in the mid-1980s.
—Anthony H. Cordesman, "The Military Balance in the Middle East – WMD: Part XIV," 16 March 1999, p. 34.

1984
Iran commences production of limited batches of chemical agents.
—Anthony H. Cordesman and Ahmed S. Hashim, Iran: Dilemmas of Dual Containment (Westview Press, 1997), p. 291.

1984
According to Anthony Cordesman, Iran did not have the ability to produce CW by the time Iraq began using the weapons against it. However, Cordesman states that Iran "seems to have made limited use of chemical mortar and artillery rounds as early as 1985—and possibly as early as 1984—these rounds were almost certainly captured from Iraq. [Note: The source Cordesman cites to back up these claims, a Washington Times article from 29 October 1986, does not exist. Therefore, it remains unclear where Cordesman received this information. It is possible that it was obtained while being member of Senator John McCain's staff.]
—Anthony H. Cordesman, "The Military Balance in the Middle East – WMD: Part XIV," 16 March 1999, p. 34.

1984
The US District Court finds that an Atlanta businessman named Pat Stevens has been illegally shipping restricted material to Iran via Hong Kong with the help of Hong-Kong based confederates operating under the names Aviation Enterprises and Centurion Aviation. In 1984, Stevens forwards a sample gas mask to Tehran in anticipation of a $60,000 for the sale that was never completed.
—Robert Karniol, "Iran's Hong Kong Connection," Defense & Foreign Affairs, May 1986, p. 42.

1984
South Korea supplies Iran with copies of the Finnish Kemira respirators. However, the gas masks did not fit properly, and their filters only lasted for 15 minutes.
—Gordon M. Burck and Charles C. Flowerree, International Handbook on Chemical Weapons Proliferation (Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1991), p. 251; Andrew Rathmell, "Iran's Weapons of Mass Destruction," Jane's Intelligence Review – Special Report No. 6, June 1995, p. 15; Jean Pascal Zanders, "Iranian Use of Chemical Weapons: A Critical Analysis of Past Allegations," Lecture, Center for Nonproliferation Studies, Monterey Institute of International Studies, Washington, DC, 7 March 2001, <http://cns.miis.edu/cns/dc/030701.htm>.

1984
Iran purchases atropine antidote injectors from a Dutch company (probably Solvay Duphar).
—Andrew Rathmell, "Iran's Weapons of Mass Destruction," Jane's Intelligence Review – Special Report No. 6, June 1995, p. 15.

1984
According to an unconfirmed report, an explosion occurs at the Marvdasht complex in Iran. About a dozen technicians involved in CBW experiments are killed.
—Gregory F. Giles, "The Islamic Republic of Iran and Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Weapons," in Peter R. Lavoy, Scott D. Sagan, and James J. Wirtz, eds., Planning the Unthinkable: How New Powers Will Use Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Weapons (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2000), p. 101.

1984
Iran's representative to the UN, Ambassador Rajai Khorasani, states in a news conference, "We are capable of manufacturing chemical weapons. If the Iraqis repeat their crime, we may consider using them. But we think that to resort to retaliation can only be justified when all other means of preventing Iraq are exhausted and still Iraq repeats its crime."
—Michael Eisenstadt, The Deterrence Series: Chemical and Biological Weapons and Deterrence, Case Study 4: Iran, Chemical and Biological Arms Control Institute, 1998, p. 9.

18 February 1984
An explosion occurs at the Iranian Petro-Chemical Center in Khrobasht.
—Press release by the Iraqi Press Office, the Iraqi Interests Section, Embassy of India, 23 March 1984, National Security Archive, box 7.

27 February 1984
The Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), the official Iranian news agency, reports that Iraq has been dropping "chemical bombs" in air raids since the preceding night in the northern flank of the 730-mile battle front. The agency reports that the bombs, releasing nerve gas and nitrogen mustard, have killed or wounded more than 400 Iranians in the last 24 hours. [Note: The report of "nitrogen" mustard versus sulfur mustard is unclear, and probably erroneous. It is likely that at this point in the war, Iraq was using sulfur mustard.]
—Joseph Panossian, Associated Press, 27 February 1984.

27 February 1984
According to a joint war communiqué of the Army and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, Iraq uses chemical bombs in the fighting south of the Majnoon Islands and northeast of the Nashwa region, as well as in the al-Ozair region of Iraq, killing or wounding about 400 Iranians.
—"Iraqi Counter-Offensive Repelled, Says Iran," Xinhua General Overseas News Service (PRC), 28 February 1984.

28 February 1984
W. Andrew Terrill Jr. states that by this time, Iranian troops seem to have been better prepared to counteract Iraqi chemical weapons. He states that "protective masks, atropine injectors and very limited amounts of protective clothing were found among the effects of dead Iranian troops..."
—W. Andrew Terrill Jr., "Chemical Weapons in the Gulf War," Strategic Review, Spring 1986, p. 53.

29 February 1984
An Iranian statement invites representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross to visit Iranian soldiers who have been wounded by chemical bombs dropped by Iraqi planes.
—Associated Press, "Iraq Renews Its Warning to Shipping," New York Times, 29 February 1984, p. 6.

Early March 1984
Iran sends 30 chemical casualties to hospitals in Vienna, London, Stockholm, and Tokyo. The medical evidence supports Iran's claim of Iraqi CW use.
—Lee Waters, "Chemical Weapons in the Iran-Iraq War," Military Review, October 1990, p. 59.

Early March 1984
Bengt Koerlof, assistant professor at the Karolinska Hospital burns unit in Vienna, says he "will not rule out" the possibility that three Iranians he treated were burned by chemical weapons. The worst case involved burns over 75 percent of the body, and the other two were burned over 50 percent and 25 percent of their bodies, respectively. An unidentified Austrian doctor said to be involved in the treatment of ten Iranian soldiers flown to Vienna speculates the burns could have been caused by chemical weapons.
—Joseph Panossian, "Iran Sends Wounded Soldiers Abroad, Ask for Probe Into chemical Warfare," Associated Press, 4 March 1984.

Early March 1984
Professor Aubin Heyndrickx from Belgium's University of Ghent claims Iranian soldiers were struck down by mustard gas and yellow rain [trichothecene mycotoxins] after examining their wounds at Vienna's General Hospital. Although both Iran and Iraq are said to have stockpiles of nerve-gas antidotes, there is no conclusive evidence that either country makes or uses nerve gas. A western photographer claims to have seen three unused hypodermic needles containing a nerve-gas antidote among the possession of Iranian soldiers at Ghuzil.
—Craig Canine and Elaine Sciolino, "The Iran-Iraq War; Is Baghdad Using Poison Gas?" Newsweek, 19 March 1984, p. 39.

4 March 1984
The Islamic Republic News Agency accuses Britain of providing Iraq with the chemical weapons that resulted in the death of 400 Iranians and the injury of some 1,100 others in the fighting since 27 February. Hashemi Rafsanjani, speaker of the Iranian Parliament and a spokesman of the Tehran regime, says that the chemical attacks occurred in fighting east of the southern Iraqi port city of Basra and called them an "unforgivable crime." The British Foreign Office in London denies both that it has chemical weapons and that it sold them to Iraq. Iran asks the United Nations to investigate the gas bomb attacks. Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayati says the disarmament conference in Geneva should be assigned to the probe.
—Joseph Panossian, "Iran Sends Wounded Soldiers Abroad, Ask for Probe Into chemical Warfare," Associated Press, 4 March 1984.

4 March 1984
Tehran Radio claims in an Arabic language broadcast that "Britain has been providing aid and signing agreements with the Ba'athist rulers of Iraq for billions of dollars under which various weapons were provided...Internationally banned chemical weapons were the most recent genocidal weapons Britain supplied." A spokesman from the British Foreign Office says, "no weapons, chemical or otherwise, has been supplied to either side" by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's government since the conflict erupted in September 1980.
—"Iran Charges Britain Supplying Chemical Weapons to Iraq," Associated Press, 4 March 1984.

4 March 1984
Hisham Sabah Fakhry, Iraq's commander of operations east of the Tigris River, denies to a group of reporters that any troops under his command have used mustard gas or other chemical weapons in past fighting, but he defends Iraq's right to take all necessary measures, saying, "We never welcome an enemy with flowers. Therefore, we will use all possible means to defend our country." He states that he has never used CW and would only use "the usual means" of warfare. But he avoids direct answer to questions on whether poison gas has been used in other areas. He says he does not know whether chemical weapons are available in his command.

In a side note, UPI reports that doctors in Vienna and Stockholm are treating 15 Iranian soldiers who have burn wounds consistent with those of CW. Iran accuses Iraq of wounding more than 1,000 of its troops with CW.
—William Drozdiak, "Iraqis Bracing for New Assault on Basra Road," Washington Post, 5 March 1984, p. A1;
Henry Kamm, "New Gulf War Issue: Chemical Arms," New York Times, Section A, 5 March 1984, p. 3.

5 March 1984
The United States formally condemns and censures Iraq for using CW.
—Gregory F. Giles, "The Islamic Republic of Iran and Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Weapons," in Peter R. Lavoy, Scott D. Sagan, and James J. Wirtz, eds., Planning The Unthinkable: How New Powers Will Use Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Weapons (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2000), p. 82.

5 March 1984
State Department spokesman John Hughes says US officials concluded from "available evidence" such as independent news reports and "non-Iranian" sources that Iraq had used the weapons.
—R. Gregory Nokes, "US Condemns Iraqi Use of Chemical Weapons," Associated Press, 5 March 1984.

5 March 1984
The New York Times quotes a Reagan administration official as stating that the United States has known for at least a year that Iraq was contemplating the use of CW. He states that the United States decided to go public with the charges only after backdoor channel appeals failed to alter Iraq's behavior.
—"US Charges Iraqi Use of Chemical Warfare; Iraq Calls Charge 'Hypocrisy'," Facts on File World News Digest, 23 March 1984, p. 200 G1.

5 March 1984
One of five Iranian soldiers being treated in Sweden for injuries dies, and doctors say they believe he has been "exposed to chemical weapons." Neither Sweden nor Austria says they can confirm Iranian charges that Iraq has been using gas bombs in the Iran-Iraq War.
—R. Gregory Nokes, "US Condemns Iraqi Use of Chemical Weapons," Associated Press, 5 March 1984.

5 March 1984
Meanwhile, doctors in Vienna confirm that the 10 soldiers being treated there were wounded "by chemical causes." However, they could not confirm that Iraq had used CW. "Eight of the patients are suffering from superficial acid burns of the skin. Two others are under intensive care with lesions of inner organs as well, including a drop in white blood corpuscles." [Note: Lowered white blood cells is indicative of mustard intoxication.]

5 March 1984
In Tehran, nearly 65 foreign diplomats tour a hospital to observe patients Iran claims have been injured by Iraqi CW. According to IRNA, Iran has "sufficient documents" to prove that the UK supplied the CW Iraq recently used against it. At the UN, Iranian Ambassador Said Rajaie-Khorassani reports that he will make a formal request for a UN investigation of the CW attacks by Iraq.
—Joseph Panossian, Associated Press, 5 March 1984; Joseph Panossian, Associated Press, 5 March 1984.

5 March 1984
During a meeting with the Swedish Ambassador in Iran, Hashemi Rafsanjani, speaker of the Iranian Parliament, asked that "the British government, which has close, friendly relations with you, should be told to stop delivering chemical bombs to Iraq so that this war can be ended more quickly." The Swedish ambassador then asked if Iran would accept the verdict of a court if a trial on Iraq's use of chemical weapons was convened. Rafsanjani responds that "this, is, of course my personal point of view and other officials have not yet made any decision in this respect. Of course, we will express our view about this trial, the elements forming the court, and the location of the trial. But if the court is held in accordance with our conditions, then any verdict passed about Saddam's punishment would be acceptable to us." In Sweden, reports state that one of the Iranian soldiers flown there for treatment has died.
—"Rafsanjani's Meeting with Swedish Ambassador: Chemical Weapons and Reparations," Islamic Republic News Agency, 5 March 1984, reported in British Broadcasting Corporation, BBC Summary of World Broadcasts, 7 March 1984, Part 4, p. A1.

6 March 1984
A Red Cross team treats 160 wounded Iranian combatants who exhibit symptoms of an Iraqi chemical attack. ICRC doctors find "extensive superficial burns," "serious respiratory problems," and "keratoconjunctivitis...[which] leads to the presumption of the recent use of substances prohibited by international law."
—"Iran-Iraq War: Chemical Weapons-ICRC Appeal," United States Department of State, 10 March 1984, Record Number 57965.

6 March 1984
Tehran Radio denounces a report by the BBC that denies British transfer of CW to Iraq, and states that "the lying BBC" was simply trying to "clean up decrepit British imperialism." The radio reports that Iran has "irrefutable documents and evidence" that the UK has delivered CW to Iraq.
—"Chemical Weapons in Iran-Iraq War: Britain Criticized," Tehran Radio, 6 March 1984, reported in British Broadcasting Corporation, BBC Summary of World Broadcasts, 7 March 1984, Part 4, p. A1.

6 March 1984
An Iraqi spokesman denies claims by Iran that his country has used CW.
—"Chemical Weapons in Iran-Iraq War: Britain Criticized," Tehran Radio, 6 March 1984, reported in British Broadcasting Corporation, BBC Summary of World Broadcasts, 7 March 1984, Part 4, p. A1.

7 March 1984
UN Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar states that he "strongly condemns the use of chemical weapons wherever and whenever this may occur." However, he does not indicate whether he would authorize a UN investigation of the Iranian charges against Iraq. Iran states that the CW were deployed in the marshland east of Basra and that they killed more than 400 troops and injured more than 1,100. Hashemi Rafsanjani calls for a trial of Saddam Hussein, the commander of the Iraqi armed forces, and leaders of Iraq's ruling Baath Party "for the crime of resorting to the use of chemical weapons." Rafsanjani goes on to belittle the US denunciation of Iraq's use of CW as nothing more than "a sweet reproach from a father to a son...[and that it] is a mere trick to fool the people, and to pretend that they are not indifferent towards the issue. When Iraq uses these [chemical weapons] and the world centers close their eyes to it, then what could be done tomorrow if a terrorist throws a poisonous capsule in a large crowd in any country..." He also states that it is the duty of the international press to strongly condemn the Iraqi actions in order to discourage their use by other countries or even terrorist organizations in the future.
—"Israel in Brief: Iran and US Condemnation of Chemical Weapons: Gulf Insurance Rates," Islamic Republic News Agency, 7 March 1984, reported in British Broadcasting Corporation, BBC Summary of World Broadcasts, 9 March 1984, Part 4, p. A1; Alex Efty, Associated Press, 7 March 1984.

7 March 1984
IRNA reports that nearly 1,100 Iranian soldiers have been wounded by Iraqi chemical bombs and nerve gases in "an act in open violation of international and humanitarian principles....According to official reports published here, ever since the war started in September 1980, the Iraqi regime has used various types of chemical weapons by means of artillery shells, mortars, and aerial bombs, against Iran's forces and civilian populations. Only before the recent operations (Wa al-Fajr 5, Wa al-Fajr 6, and Kheybar) started in February, Iraq has used lethal chemical bombs in different western and southwestern regions of Iran, 48 times. During the first few days of the Kheybar operations some 400 Iranians had been wounded or martyred in Iraq's chemical bombing of the Kheybar operational region. The figure, however, rose gradually to 700 and then 1,100, as the Baghdad regime increased its application of the internationally banned chemicals. The injured Iranian combatants were transferred to various hospitals in Khuzestan and later to Tehran and several other cities for initial treatment. Some of the wounded Iranians who had been contaminated with toxic agents released by the Iraqi bombs on Majnoon Islands suffered mostly from facial burns and eye injuries, also having intense nausea, inflamed, tear-flowing eyes, giddiness, loss of equilibrium and intense coughing. The type of the chemicals used were nerve gas, nitrogen mustard [sic], vesicant (blistering), and irritant.

According to the injured, upon explosion, the bombs emitted a yellow gas that quickly spread over the area and the troops within a radius of one kilometer. The fragments of a bomb later collected from the point of explosion were of a green color according to the wounded combatants. Iranian doctors treating the patients have said that the Iraqis have most likely used other types of toxic chemicals such as chlorine in their bombs, and possibly arsenic and phosgene compounds. The doctors said some of the patients (about 30 percent) had received minor injuries, most of whom were released from hospitals within a short period of time and returned to the battlefront. Despite the repeated appeals of Iran to various international organizations, so far, silence has been the only response given by these organizations to Baghdad's repeated violation of human rights in its war against Iran. During the recent disarmament conference in Geneva, the Iranian delegates (headed by Foreign Minister Velayati) distributed pictorial leaflets among the foreign dignitaries attending the conference containing a summary report on Iraqi deployment of chemical weapons. Iran has also launched other universal efforts in a bid to convince the international organizations that this Iraqi crime, like the regime's other violations of human rights, should be condemned. To this end, Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayati of the Islamic Republic on Sunday [4th March] cabled a message to the United Nations, urging the dispatch of a special delegation here to study the Iraqi use of chemical weapons. Iran's permanent envoy to the UN, Sa'id Raja'i-Khorasani has also called on UN Secretary General, Javier Perez de Cuellar, to open an investigation into the use of chemical weapons by the Iraqi regime against Iran. According to Resolution No. 37/98 passed at the UN in 1982, the United Nations Organization, upon learning about application of chemical bombs in a country, is duty bound to dispatch a team of experts to the said country immediately and inform all the UN members of the results of its investigations. This responsibility is independent from the organization's duty vis-a-vis the very issue of the war and therefore under no pretext could the UN refrain from investigating the case.

Meanwhile, Iran's foreign ministry sent a letter to the representative committee of the International Red Cross (IRC) in Tehran, inviting the IRC representative to visit victims of the Iraqi chemical bombardment. On Monday, 5 March, foreign ambassadors, charge d'affaires, and military attaches were invited to the Iranian Foreign Ministry, where they listened to reports on Iraqi regime's deployment of chemical weapons. Also, the same day, some 65 foreign diplomats in Tehran visited convalescing victims of the chemical weapons, at Labafi Nezhad hospital. The Islamic Republic of Iran, based on some of the available evidence, has accused the British government of supplying chemical weapons to the Iraqi regime. Iranian officials have deplored the act and have asked Britain to stop the shipment of these weapons. Majlis Speaker Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, in a meeting with the Swedish Ambassador to Tehran Monday, asked the Swedish government to discourage Britain from sending more chemical weapons to Iraq. He said this British measure was in contradiction with its claims that it wanted to see an end to the Iraq-Iran war. Meanwhile, a British parliamentarian Tuesday [6th March] conceded that the British government was involved in chemical warfare in the Persian Gulf because, he said, "British firms have sold protective suits and gas masks to Iraq and several other Arab countries. We trust that in the world today, no human conscience could overlook such a naked crime and no heart could stay unmoved in the face of so much pain and suffering ruthlessly inflicted on human beings. We also hope that the international for a realizing their grave responsibility towards humanity at large and world peace, would be instrumental in relaying the voice of these victims to the world, and denouncing these criminal acts."
—"Israel in Brief: Iranian Report on Iraq's Alleged Use of Chemical Weapons," Islamic Republic News Agency, 7 March 1984, reported in British Broadcasting Corporation, BBC Summary of World Broadcasts, 9 March 1984, Part 4, p. A1.

7 March 1984
A Washington Post article states that mustard gas is being produced at an Iraqi facility in the town of Samawa. According to the Post's diplomatic sources, Iraq first used CW in July of 1983 along the central section of the front and that it used CW for a second time in the Penjwin hills along the northern front. However, those attacks were limited in size and scope in comparison to the large scale attacks now being used against Iran's human wave offensives.
—"US Charges Iraqi Use of Chemical Warfare; Iraq Calls Charge 'Hypocrisy,'" Facts on File World News Digest, 23 March 1984, p. 200, G1.

9 March 1984
Iran leveled new charges against Iraq for using CW in a bid to retake the Majnoon Islands. The allegations claim that "dozens" of Iranian soldiers were wounded by the CW. According to the Associated Press, the US State Department reported on 6 March that the US has known since last year that Iraq was using CW against Iran.
—"Iran Alleges More Chemical Weapons Use by Iraq," Associated Press, 9 March 1984.

10 March 1984
A Washington Post article shows a picture of an Iranian soldier wearing a gas mask.
—William Drozdiak, "Iraq's Saddam Hussein Looks for Way Out of Costly, Futile War," Washington Post, 11 March 1984, p. A17.

12 March 1984
Baghdad radio boasts that Iraqi troops used "insecticide" on Iranian attackers in the southern front in the past weeks. US intelligence analysts suspect that the Iraqis may have been using mustard gas. Officially, Iraq denies using "banned weapons," but it says it has a right to employ them if necessary.
—Russell Watson, Elaine Sciolino, Kim Willenson, William J. Cook, Elizabeth O. Colton, "The Holy War in the Persian Gulf," Newsweek, 12 March 1984, p. 40.

12 March 1984
An Iranian soldier in Sweden reported seeing a "big orange-colored cloud of gas" emanate from an Iraqi bomb dropped from a plane that landed 20 feet from him. His eyes started to sting and he went blind – 14 hours later his skin began to swell and it felt like his whole body was burning. [Note: These symptoms are consistent with exposure to mustard agent.]
—"Soviet Envoy Objects to UN Chemicals Weapons Probe in Iran," Associated Press, 12 March 1984.

March 1984
Dr. Herbert Mandl, an Austrian physician, reports that tests conducted at the Toxicological Institute in Ghent, Belgium confirm "with certain proof" that the Iranian soldiers were suffering from injuries caused by not only mustard gas, but also by mycotoxins, or "yellow rain." As for three of the patients who have died in Vienna, and an additional soldier who died in Stockholm, "the cause of death was definitely mustard gas and yellow rain; we have established that now without a doubt." [The toxicological study performed at Ghent was done by Hendryckx, and has since been called into question with regard to the presence of tricothecene mycotoxins.]
—"US Charges Iraqi Use of Chemical Warfare; Iraq Calls Charge 'Hypocrisy'," Facts on File World News Digest, 23 March 1984, p. 200, G1.

13-19 March 1984
The first team of UN specialists visits Iran to investigate alleged Iraqi CW attacks. Its report, submitted on 21 March, confirms that, "chemical weapons in the form of aerial bombs have been used in the areas inspected in Iran by the specialists...." The chemical agents used reportedly included mustard gas and tabun nerve agent.
—United Nations Security Council, Report of the Specialists Appointed by the Secretary-General to Investigate Allegations by the Islamic Republic of Iran Concerning the Use of Chemical Weapons, s/16433, 26 March 1984;
Victor A. Utgoff, The Challenge of Chemical Weapons: An American Perspective (New York: St. Matin's Press, 1991), pp. 81-82.

13 March 1984
Six of the 15 Iranian CW victims flown to Europe to receive medical treatment have died. An additional 13 have recently been sent to Britain, France, Switzerland, and Japan. Meanwhile, a UN team has arrived in Tehran to investigate Iranian claims surrounding Iraq's alleged use of CW against Iranian troops.
—Marcus Eliason, "UN in Tehran Checks Charges, Dispute over Gas Supplier," Associated Press, 13 March 1984.

15 March 1984
A Belgian scientist [Hendryckx] says his examinations of Iranian CW victims in Vienna show evidence that the soldiers were exposed to mustard gas and mycotoxins.
—Claude van England, "Iraq and Arab Allies Try to Force Economic Isolation of Iran," Christian Science Monitor, 15 March 1984, p. 9.

15 March 1984
Iraq's Undersecretary for Foreign Affairs is in Washington, DC dismissed Iran's claim that his country was deploying CW. He suggested that Iran was simply trying to divert attention from its inability to defeat Iraq on the battlefield. He cast doubt on statements made by European doctors that the Iranian soldiers were victims of CW and said that even if they were injured by chemicals, they could have been injured by Iranian chemicals.
—R. Gregory Nokes, "Washington Dateline," Associated Press, 15 March 1984.

19 March 1984
Iran sends 15 more alleged CW victims to Europe today to receive treatment as the UN team investigating Iran's allegations concluded its work and returned to Geneva to document their findings. Yesterday they were in the southwestern Iranian city of Ahwaz to conduct tests. Iran claims that Iraq used CW again on 17 March during heavy fighting in the borderland marsh regions. Iran claims CW bombs dropped from planes wounded 460 Iranian soldiers. Meanwhile, the Iranian charge d'affaires in London repeats claims that Britain supplied CW to Iran. He states that, "We will reveal our evidence when the time is right."
—"Iran, Iraq Battle in Basra Marshes and More Wounded Flown to Europe," Associated Press, 19 March 1984.

23 March 1984
Speaker of the Majlis Rafsanjani states the following during prayers at Tehran University: "At present, we are committed not to resort to chemical bombs. However, I do not know how long this will remain so. At present, we are determined not to use them, but can one be patient forever if they continue their course of action?...Iran is the strongest country in the entire Middle East with regard to its chemical works. Our pharmaceutical works and our chemists and the scientists we have at our disposal are the best throughout the Middle East."
—Tehran domestic service in Persian, 23 March 1984; FBIS Document, FBIS-SAS, 26 March 1984.

23 March 1984
In a slightly different and extended translation, Iran claims it will retaliate with CW if Iraq continues to attack its troops with chemical weapons. IRNA quoted Parliament Speaker Rafsanjani as stating that with Iran's "advanced pharmaceutical and chemical technology, [it] can manufacture chemical weapons and use them any time it should deem it advisable....We now believe that we should not employ chemical weapons, but we do not know how long we will maintain such an outlook. We are determined not to venture into doing this. But can we wait for a lifetime? We now manufacture 155mm artillery shells capable of hitting a range of 28 kilometers. Instead of filling them with explosives, we can even now fill them with poisonous elements. If forced to try our hand in this task, we are certainly more capable and more resourceful than any other nation in the region." He adds that if the UN did not denounce the Iraqi actions, it would be a crime against humanity.
—Joseph Panossian, "Untitled," Associated Press, 23 March 1984; "Rafsanjani on Iran's Possible use of Chemical Weapons," Tehran Radio, 23 March 1984, reported in British Broadcasting Corporation, BBC Summary of World Broadcasts, 24 March 1984, Part 4, p. A1.

23 March 1984
Iraq claims that some Iranians sent abroad for medical treatment for burns were the victims of an explosion at the Iranian Petro-Chemical Center in Khrobasht, which took place on 18 February 1984.
—Press release by the Iraqi Press Office, the Iraqi Interests Section, Embassy of India, 23 March 1984, National Security Archive, box 7.

23 March 1984
The French newspaper the France-Soir said the explosion took place at a French-built facility in Marc-Dacht on 19 February and that 35 Iranians and 10 foreign technicians were killed, with another 50 wounded. Some of those wounded were later sent to France, Austria, Sweden, Switzerland, and the UK with the story that they had been injured by Iraqi attacks. An Iranian opposition figure with ties to the former Prime Minister Shahpour Bakhtiar confirmed the report as accurate.
—Joseph Panossian, "Untitled," Associated Press, 23 March 1984.

23 March 1984
W. Andrew Terrill Jr. states that this French report reflected the stance of the French government at this time. Terrill states that Iraq was one of France's largest clients for weaponry at the time, and that Iraq bought more military equipment from France than from any other country. The French, Terrill states, seemed unconcerned by Iraqi use of chemical weapons and maintained official silence on the issue while continuing their arms trade with Iraq. He states the French "seemed not disposed to criticize the use of CW by their client." This is reflected in the reports from France-Soir and how the paper, along with Le Monde "indulged in speculations" that Iranians were injured not by chemical weapons, but by an industrial accident.
—W. Andrew Terrill Jr., "Chemical Weapons in the Gulf War," Strategic Review, Spring 1986, p. 55.

23 March 1984
An Iranian CW victim in London claimed he was injured when an artillery shell filled with CW struck his bunker on 13 March. Another Iranian victim said he had been attacked on 28 February when Iraqi planes attacked a concentration of 400 Iranian soldiers.
—Larry Thorson, "Blistered Soldiers Eager to Fight despite Poison Gas," Associated Press, 23 March 1984.

26 March 1984
The UN releases the report of its first investigation of possible CW use in the Iran-Iraq War. The team's unanimous decision is that chemical weapons were used in the areas of Iran visited by the UN team. The CW were mustard gas and Tabun delivered by aerial bombs. No statement was offered as to which party is responsible for the CW attacks, although contained in the report are statements by Iranian soldiers who observed three Iraqi aircraft dropping CW bombs over their positions in the Shatt-e-Ali marshlands. The inspectors also observed unexploded aerial bombs in the desert region of Hoor-ul-Huwaizeh the day after an Iraqi attack there.
—Gustav Andersson, et al., "Report of the Specialists Appointed by the Secretary-General to Investigate Allegations by the Islamic Republic of Iran Concerning the Use of Chemical Weapons," United Nations, 26 March 1984; Gordon M. Burck and Charles C. Flowerree, International Handbook on Chemical Weapons Proliferation (Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1991), p. 32.

30 March 1984
After revelations by in the UN report regarding CW use, the United States bans the export of certain chemicals to Iraq and Iran.
—"Alleged US Mustard Gas Shipments to Iraq Via Spain," United States Information Agency, 25 June 1984, Record Number 58488.

30 March 1984
The UN Security Council today issues a presidential statement, the Council's weakest form of a statement, condemning the use of CW without labeling Iraq as a country that uses CW. Instead, it will only encourage both Iran and Iraq to adhere to the 1925 Geneva Protocol. Iran's Ambassador to the UN said that if the Council did not specifically condemn Iraq for its actions, it would show that "the Council is a joke." A New York Times article quotes US intelligence officials as saying that they have irrefutable evidence to prove Iraq used nerve gas against Iran and that Iraq, with help from West German firms, was close to being able to mass-produce CW.
—"UN Council Set to Condemn Chemical Arms Use in Iran-Iraq War," Associated Press, 30 March 1984.

Spring 1984
W. Andrew Terrill Jr. states that Great Britain "took the lead in the move for a UN Security Council denunciation of Iraq for CW use. Yet, this initiative, supported also by the Netherlands, failed against the opposition of France, and to some extent, the United States."
—W. Andrew Terrill Jr., "Chemical Weapons in the Gulf War," Strategic Review, Spring 1986, pp. 55-56.

1 April 1984
Iran's Majlis Speaker Rafsanjani sends a message to fellow parliament speakers of countries around the world asking them to condemn Iraq for its use of CW. In the message, Rafsanjani repeats the theme of his 7 March address by stating that "despite the fact that the Islamic Republic of Iran has greater facilities than the Iraqi enemy, both technically and scientifically, for the manufacture and use of such weapons, taking cognizance of its adherence to Islamic morality and its respect for mankind and international mores, it has refused to make use of banned weapons; and it has not resorted to retaliation in kind, which is an accepted right. The Islamic Republic of Iran is still displaying patience, despite the fact that there are nearly 3,000 wounded and disabled and more than 40 martyrs as a result of chemical bombings." He goes on to state that reports indicate that Iraq intends to make greater use of CW in the future and calls upon all countries to "condemn this crime and thwart the promotion of this sinister precedent."
—"Hashemi-Rafsanjani's International Plea on Chemical Weapons, in Tehran Radio," 1 April 1984, reported in British Broadcasting Corporation, BBC Summary of World Broadcasts, 3 April 1984, Part 4, p. A1, "Iraq Says it Carried Out Extensive Bombing Raids against Iran," Associated Press, 1 April 1984.

2 April 1984
At a news conference in London, Iran's delegate to the UN, Rajai Khorassani, asserts that Iran is "capable of manufacturing chemical weapons. If the Iraqis repeat their crime, we may consider using them. But we think that to resort to retaliation can only be justified when all other means of preventing Iraq are exhausted and still Iraq repeats its crime."
—"Iranian Says His Country is Able to Make its Own Chemical Arms," New York Times, 3 April 1984, p. A12.

4 April 1984
The Christian Science Monitor reports that Iran is using the findings of the UN report to ask members of the Non-Aligned Movement as well as the Islamic Conference to condemn Iraq. Iranian diplomats in Europe are also trying to obtain a declaration from the European Economic Community on CW. However, one European diplomat confides that "I trust the United States State Department when it says Iraq is using chemical weapons, but on a purely legal point of view, I don't have any evidence that the gas-loaded bombs examined by United Nations experts had effectively been dropped by Iraqi aircrafts."
—Claude van England, "Iraq's Strategies Get a Desperate Edge," Christian Science Monitor, 4 April 1984, p. 18.

9 April 1984
Washington believes the Iraqis used nerve gas in battle for the first time last month to repel an Iranian attack.
—Angus Deming, John Walcott, and Nicholas M. Horrock, "Persian Gulf; Iraq Escalates to Nerve Gas," Newsweek, 9 April 1984, p. 71.

9 April 1984
US Departments of State and Commerce ban exports of the following five chemicals to Iran and Iraq: potassium fluoride, dimethyl methylphosphonate, methylphosphonyl difluoride, phosphorous oxychloride (the latter four compounds being nerve agent precursors), and thioglycol (mustard agent precursor). US officials concede they have no evidence implicating the Iranians in chemical warfare.
—Angus Deming, John Walcott, and Nicholas M. Horrock, "Persian Gulf; Iraq Escalates to Nerve Gas," Newsweek, 9 April 1984, p. 71.

10-11 April 1984
The United States, Britain, France, Japan, and Australia ban exports of certain chemicals to Iraq and Iran.
—Gordon M. Burck and Charles C. Flowerree, International Handbook on Chemical Weapons Proliferation (Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1991), p. 32; Lee Waters, "Chemical Weapons in the Iran Iraq War," Military Review, October 1990, p. 59.

12 April 1984
Britain today followed the US in banning the export of eight CW precursor chemicals to Iran and Iraq, and encouraged the EEC to do the same.
—"Iran-Iraq War; UN Reports Iraqi Gas Warfare," Facts on File World News Digest, 13 April 1984, p. 261, D1.

May 1984
An East German company supplies Iran with 5,000 "respirators," which turn out to be ordinary industrial half-masks with goggles, unsuitable for chemical defense. Iran reportedly selected the company because of the extremely low price of $12 each.
—Gordon M. Burck and Charles C. Flowerree, International Handbook on Chemical Weapons Proliferation (Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1991), p. 251; Jean Pascal Zanders, "Iranian Use of Chemical Weapons: A Critical Analysis of Past Allegations," at a talk at the Center for Nonproliferation Studies, Monterey Institute of International Studies, Washington, DC, 7 March 2001, <http://cns.miis.edu/cns/dc/030701.htm>.

Early July 1984
The Iranian deputy foreign minister says in Tehran that, "the Islamic Republic of Iran has not and will not use chemical weapons."
—IRNA, 5 July 1984; FBIS Document FBIS-SAS, 6 July 1984.

6 July 1984
UN Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar appeals to Iran and Iraq to make "a solemn commitment not to use chemical weapons of any kind for any reason. UN spokesman Francois Giuliani said that although Iraq has not responded to the appeal, he was "confident that the other answer will be coming."
—Aly Mahmoud, "Gulf Military Leaders Confer," Associated Press, 7 July 1984.

7 July 1984
Iran pledges at the UN not to use CW in its war with Iraq, even though the Iraqis continued to use them.
—Aly Mahmoud, "Gulf Military Leaders Confer," Associated Press, 7 July 1984.

31 October 1984
A report for The Guardian gathered from the Iranian front lines reports that the Ministry for Revolutionary Guards issues ampules and syringes in plastic boxes to its soldiers to protect them from Iraqi nerve gas.
—Ian Black, "Meimak Victory Bolsters Iranian Army," The Guardian (London), 31 October 1984.

16 December 1984
A New York Times reporter visiting Iran is instructed on how to defend himself against CW attack before he was allowed to visit the front. He quotes an Iranian captain as stating "there is nerve gas, choking gas, lung gas, and gas for the blood. These are elements which the Iraqis have bought in great quantities." The captain goes on to explain what to do if his skin started to turn red, if his muscles began to spasm, if his stomach began to hurt, if he could not breathe, or if his eyes began to foam. The captain demonstrated how to put on gas masks, to use syringes for shots every 10 minutes if the reporter stopped breathing. He also gave out amyl nitrite to break into the gas masks. [Note: Amyl nitrite is an antidote for cyanide poisoning.]
—John Kifner, "Iran: Obsessed with Martyrdom," New York Times, 16 December 1984, section 6, p. 36.

	Updated October 2003