8 September 1931Iraq accedes to the Geneva protocol, banning the use of chemical weapons. Iraq makes a "no first use reservation," as do approximately 30% of States Parties to the treaty.
--"1925 Geneva Protocol," <http://disarmament.un.org/TreatyStatus.nsf>
1960s
According to Lieutenant General Nizar 'Abd al-Karim al-Khazraji, who was questioned by UNSCOM inspectors, the Iraqi army had been trained to operate in a chemical warfare (CW) environment since the 1960s.
--Scott Ritter, Endgame: Solving the Iraq Problem – Once and for All, (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1999), p.83.
1964
The Iraqi Army Chemical Weapons Branch (CWB) is founded with the responsibilities for planning, transporting, using, and conducting defensive operations against chemical weapons. The CWB commander is also the leader of the Iraqi Chemical Corps.
--Timothy V. McCarthy and Jonathan B. Tucker, "Saddam's Toxic Arsenal: Chemical and Biological Weapons in the Gulf Wars," in Peter R. Lavoy, Scott D. Sagan and James Wirtz (ed.), Planning the Unthinkable (Cornell University Press, 2000), p. 62.
Late 1960s
Iraq's chemical warfare program reportedly commences after the Iraqis note effective use of Egyptian CW against Yemen.
--Anthony Cordesman, "Creating Weapons of Mass Destruction, Armed Forces Journal International 126 (February 1989), p.54; Harvey J. McGeorge, "Iraq's secret Arsenal," Chemical and Biological Warfare, (January/February 1991), p.6.
1971
Research begins at a small site in Rashad, northeast of the capital Baghdad. Research on Mustard, CS and Tabun (GA) are pursued.
--Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction: The Assessment of the British Government. 2002, p.11.
1970s
Iraq starts research and development activities into production of chemical weapons.
[Note: this date referring to the beginnings of an Iraqi CW program is different from the one noted by Cordesman in the entry above.]
--UNSCOM report to the Security Council, 25 January 1999, Annex B: Status of the Verification of Iraq's Chemical Weapons Programme, <http://www.fas.org/news/un/iraq/s/990125/index.html>.
1974-1977
A three-man committee made up of then vice-president Saddam Hussayn, Vice- Premier Adnan Hamdani and Chief of Staff, General Adnan Khairallah, head the Iraqi quest for weapons of mass destruction (WMD). They engage a Beirut-based consulting company called Arab Projects and Development (APD) to help in this endeavor. APD recommends that Iraq recruit foreign scientists and engineers, as it lacked an indigenous technical capability. As a result, between 1974 and 1977, Iraq enlists the services of over 4,000 scientific personnel from countries such as Egypt, Morocco, and Algeria,
--Adel Darwish and Gregory Alexander, Unholy Babylon: The Secret History of Saddam's War, (London: Victor Gollancz LTD, 1991), pp. 102-103.
1974
Al-Hasan Ibn al-Haitham is established as a dedicated organization, pursuing the quest for CW.
--Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction: The Assessment of the British Government. 2002, p.11.
1975
The Chemical Corps are heavily involved in establishing the al-Hazen Ibn al-Haytham Institute.
--Scott Ritter, Endgame: Solving the Iraq Problem – Once and for All, (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1999), p.83.
1975
Reportedly, Iraq approaches the Pfaudler Company of Rochester, New York, regarding help in creating a relatively small "pesticide blending" production facility. Pfaulder is known for producing corrosion-resistant, glass-lined steel vessels, which are suitable for producing large amounts of toxic chemicals. The discussions break off in mid-1976 because Pfaudler tries to persuade Iraq to proceed first with a pilot plant, whereas Iraq insisted on constructing a massive plant to "blend organophosphate pesticides." Early in 1978 the U.S. government refuses to grant Pfaulder a license to export the machinery for building the plant, but the Iraqi's managed to acquire the drawings and technical specifications. Iraq then turns to Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI), which refuses to negotiate the proposal due to British export controls. As a result, Iraq turns to several European firms to finally purchase various equipment that it needed, and in 1975 Iraq builds a "nerve and mustard agent production facility" near Samarra.
--Anthony Cordesman, "Creating Weapons of Mass Destruction, Armed Forces Journal International 126 (February 1989), p.54; Adel Darwish and Gregory Alexander, Unholy Babylon: The Secret History of Saddam's War, (London: Victor Gollancz Ltd., 1991), p.104.
1975-1981
Iraq signs contracts with Karl Kolb GmbH for seven chemical pilot plants. The Hamburg-based company provided Iraq with several "heavy duty pumps and chemicals."
--Gordon M. Burck and Charles C. Flowerree, International Handbook on Chemical Weapons Proliferation, (Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1991), p.32.; Anthony Cordesman, "Creating Weapons of Mass Destruction, Armed Forces Journal International 126 (February 1989), p.54
1976
The Iraqi Phosphate Company is established. The company is composed of phosphate mines and a chemical facility that includes "a processing plant, a sulfuric acid plant and a fertilizer plant." The fertilizer plant was bombed by Allied forces in the 1990 Gulf War regained its operational capability by November 1999. The Iraqi Phosphate Company's chemical plant also produces other products such as "sodium phosphates, silica gel, sodium floro-silicate (sic), ammonium chloride, and calcium phosphate."
[Note: Although there is no apparent direct link to a CW program, this facility's description goes to demonstrate Iraqi scientific capability.]
--"Alif Ba' Reports on Iraqi Phosphate Industry", FBIS, 30 December 1999, ID: FTS19991230000190.
1976
An unnamed Italian company in Milan reportedly helps Iraq build a chemical weapons plant under the cover of producing pesticides.
--"The Development of Iraq's Nuclear and Biochemical Weapons," Shijie Zhishi, 16 January 1999; in FBIS Document FTS19990214000047, 16 January 1999.
1978
The Al-Hazen Institute closes and the chemical weapons development programs are moved to al-Rashad and the al-Muthanna State Establishment.
[Note: The source does not indicate any particular reasons why the program moves to a different site but according to Iraqi sources, the al Hazen Ibn al-Haytham Institute is shut down and several workers, including the Chairman Major Ghazan Ibrahim, are arrested due to financial fraud. The Institute is closed due to poor management coupled with lack of appropriate facilities and equipment.]
--Scott Ritter, Endgame: Solving the Iraq Problem – Once and for All, (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1999), p.83.
Early 1979
Iraq reportedly builds its first, crude, chemical warfare plant near the town of Akashat in northwest Iraq. The plant has a hypothetical production capacity of 2,000 tons per year. The British Department of Trade and Industry grants an export license for the protective clothing used by workers in the plant.
[Note: The type of agent produced at the plant is not specified. Furthermore, according to a CNS scientist, most of the calculations are overestimated by approximately 20-50%]
--Adel Darwish and Gregory Alexander, Unholy Babylon: The Secret History of Saddam's War, (London: Victor Gollancz Ltd., 1991), p.105.
Late 1970s
Development plans begin for a "commercial scale production facility" in the Iraqi desert under the codename Project 922. This facility is later named the al-Muthanna State Establishment (al-Muthanna) and operated under the name "Iraq's State Establishment for Pesticide Production." Al-Muthanna was assisted by "three separate storage and precursor facilities known as Fallujah 1, 2. and 3." Parts of these facilities were not fully complete when they were bombed by allied forces in 1991.
--Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction: The Assessment of the British Government, 2002, p.11.
Late 1970s-early 1980s
Iraq initiates research into the production of CS tear agent at the al-Salman Pak site for the purpose of riot control, under the auspices of the Committee for National Security. Only a few tons of CS were produced at this site, whereas the military-scale production of the chemical was initiated at al-Muthana in the early 1980s.
[Note: Salman Pak was mainly involved in Iraq's biological warfare (BW) program and is located approximately 30-40 kilometers southeast of Baghdad.]
--UNSCOM Seventh Report Under Resolution 715, S/1995/284n, 10 April 1995 found at the Federation of American Scientists website, <http://www.fas.org/news/un/iraq/s/s1995-0284.htm>.
