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TheIraqi chemical weapons program was an aspect of the country's pursuit ofweapons of mass destruction until the 1990s. In violation of theGeneva Protocol, Iraq initiated three separate research and development drives for chemical weapons, the first two of which (1970–1974; 1974–1978) were unsuccessful. The last drive (1978–1991), which was spurred by Iraqi presidentSaddam Hussein, was successful and saw the deployment of chemical weapons during the country's military campaigns againstIran and theKurdish people.^[1]

Efforts by Iraq to acquire chemical weapons date back to the early 1960s and were motivated by a desire to greatly strengthen the Iraqi military, especially after the1973 Arab–Israeli War.^[2] However, it was not untilSaddam took power that the program experienced significant and steady progress. Though lacking stockpiles at the time of theIraqi invasion of Iran in 1980, the country rapidly engaged in intensive research to produce and store chemical weapons, with real-time battlefield deployments serving as tests for the prowess of Iraqi forces in wagingchemical warfare.

Beginning in 1983,Iraqi chemical attacks against Iran were confirmed by theUnited Nations to have taken place on multiple occasions over the course of theIran–Iraq War, including more than 30 targeted attacks against Iranian civilians. It is estimated that these chemical attacks resulted in over 100,000 Iranian casualties, of which at least 20,000 were direct deaths upon exposure. The Iraqi military also used chemical weapons against Kurdish civilians during the1988 Anfal campaign (as evidenced by theHalabja massacre), which resulted in the deaths of as many as 100,000 people, according toHuman Rights Watch.^[3][4] In January 1991, during theIraqi occupation of Kuwait, Iraq began firing missiles atcivilian targets in Israel and atAmerican troops in Saudi Arabia, raising concerns of potential chemical attacks, but all of the warheads used were conventional. However, chemical weapons were reportedly deployed again during the1991 Iraqi uprisings.

According to Iraqi government sources, while the majority of itsmustard gas was of 90–95% purity, it struggled to consistently producenerve agents of high purity. The average purity of itstabun was 50–60%, but production was abandoned in 1986 in favour of concentrating onsarin. The average quality of sarin and related products was in the range of 45–60%, which was sufficient for immediate deployment against the Iranians, but not for long-term storage. The development ofVX after 1988 was relatively unsuccessful, with the achieved purity of 18–41% considered insufficient for weaponization.^[5] The highly secretiveIraqi biological weapons program, which was discovered by theUnited Nations Special Commission during theIraq disarmament crisis, pursued a similar course: Iraq had deployed biological warheads (containinganthrax andbotulinum toxin) to attack theGulf War coalition at various locations, but Hussein reportedly decided against using them.^[6]Continued concerns over Iraqi weapons of mass destruction contributed to the2003 invasion of Iraq, though it was later discovered thatIraq had destroyed its stockpile in the 1990s.

On September 22, 1980, Iraq staged an all-out war on Iran from ground, air, and sea and came to occupy a vast part of Iranian territory. But in the following months it was evident that the Iranian nation was determined to reclaim itsoccupied territories. Contrary to the Iraqis' conception, the continued occupation of Iran required more effective weapons.

Saddam Hussein's chemical warfare development and use can be divided into three phases:

• Phase 1: January 1981 to June 1983, Iraq started testing chemical weapons.
• Phase 2: August 1983 to December 1983, chemical weapons were used to a limited extent.
• Phase 3: February 1984 to the end of the war, chemical weapons were used extensively.

Project 922 was the codename for Iraq's third and most successful attempt at producing chemical and biological weapons. Within three years (1978–1981), Project 922 had gone from concept to production for first generation Iraqi chemical weapons (mustard agent). By 1984, Iraq started producing its firstnerve agents,Tabun andSarin. In 1986, a five-year plan was drawn up that ultimately led tobiological weapons production. By 1988, Iraq had producedVX. The program reached its zenith in the late 1980s during the Iran–Iraq War. From August 1983 to July 1988 Iran was subjected to extensive Iraqi chemical attacks. Between 1981 and 1991, Iraq produced over 3,857 tons of CW agents.^{[citation needed]}

As part of Project 922,West German firms helped build Iraqi chemical weapons facilities such as laboratories, bunkers, an administrative building, and first production buildings in the early 1980s under the cover of apesticide plant. Other West German firms sent 1,027 tons of precursors ofmustard gas,sarin,tabun, andtear gasses in all. This work allowed Iraq to produce 150 tons of mustard agent and 60 tons ofTabun in 1983 and 1984 respectively, continuing throughout the decade. All told, 52% of Iraq's international chemical weapon equipment was of German origin. One of the contributions was a £14m chlorine plant known as "Falluja 2", built by Uhde Ltd, then a UK subsidiary of West German chemical companyHoechst AG;^[7] the plant was given financial guarantees by the UKExport Credits Guarantee Department despite official UK recognition of a "strong possibility" the plant would be used to make mustard gas.^[8] The guarantees led toUK government payment of £300,000 to Uhde in 1990 after completion of the plant was interrupted by the first Gulf War. Saddam’s sonQusay was said to have been put in charge of concealing chemical weapons from international inspectors.^[9][8] In 1994 and 1996 three people were convicted inGermany of export offenses.^[10]

On September 22, 1980, Iraq launched aninvasion against Iran, marking the beginning of the eight-yearIran–Iraq War.^{[11][12][13][14]} The Iraqi army, trained and influenced by Soviet advisors, had organic chemical warfare units and a wide variety of delivery systems. Neither side achieved dominance and the war quickly became a stalemate. To stop thehuman-wave–attack tactics of theIranians, the Iraqis employed their home-produced chemical agents as a defensive measure against the much-less–preparedIranian infantry. The first reported use of chemical weapons occurred in November 1980.^[15][16]

Throughout the next several years, additional reports of chemical attacks circulated, and by November 1983, Iran notified theUN that Iraq was using chemical weapons against its troops. After Iran sentchemical casualties to several Western nations for treatment, the UN dispatched a team of specialists to the area in 1984, and again in 1986 and 1987, to verify the claims. The conclusion from all three trips was the same: Iraq was using chemical weapons against Iranian troops and civilians. In addition, the second mission stressed that Iraq's use of chemical weapons appeared to be increasing. The reports indicated thatmustard gas andtabun were the primary agents used and that they were generally delivered in bombs dropped by an airplane. The third mission (the only one allowed to enter Iraq) also reported the use of artillery shells and chemical rockets and the use of chemical weapons against civilian personnel.^[17][18][19]

In the letter of transmittal to the UN after the conclusion of the third mission, the investigators pointed out the dangers of this chemical warfare:

It is vital to realize that the continued use of chemical weapons in the present conflict increases the risk of their use in future conflicts. In view of this, and as individuals who witnessed first hand the terrible effects of chemical weapons, we again make a special plea to you to try to do everything in your power to stop the use of such weapons in the Iran–Iraq conflict and thus ensure that they are not used in future conflicts. ... In our view, only concerted efforts at the political level can be effective in ensuring that all the signatories of the Geneva Protocol of 1925 abide by their obligations. Otherwise, if the Protocol is irreparably weakened after 60 years of general international respect, this may lead, in the future, to the world facing the specter of the threat of biological weapons.^[20]

Declassified documents later revealed that the United States was both aware of Iraq's use of chemical weapons, and also facilitated its acquisition of chemical and biological precursors which were used to make weapons.^[21][22]

Another analyst insisted that "In a sense, a taboo has been broken, thus making it easier for future combatants to find justification for chemical warfare, this aspect of the Iran–Iraq War should cause Western military planners the gravest concern."^[23] The Iran–Iraq War failed to reach a military conclusion despite Iraq's use of chemical weapons. Roughly 5% of the Iranian casualties were caused by chemical weapons.^[24] The toll may surpass 90,000 though, according to Iranian experts, since the latency period is as long as 40 years.^[25] In August 1988, Iran finally accepted a UN ceasefire plan. One of the factors that led to this decision was the fear of chemical attacks against Iranian civilians, since Saddam had used them against civilians in the past and that caused "no major international outcry".^[26]

During thePersian Gulf War of 1991, under orders by Saddam Hussein, large numbers ofmissiles were fired on Israel and Saudi Arabia. Besides causing many deaths and extensive property damage, it was feared that the missiles could be armed with nerve gas leading the Israeli and Saudi governments to distribute gas masks to all their citizens.

Shortly after the fighting between Iraq andCoalition Forces in the Gulf War came to a cease-fire in February 1991, reports circulated that Saddam Hussein was using chemical agents against Kurds andShiite Muslims, near UN troops. The United States intercepted a message ordering the use of chemical weapons against the cities ofNajaf andKarbala. U.S. PresidentGeorge H. W. Bush's response was that such use of chemical weapons would result in air strikes against the Iraqi military organization using the chemicals.^[27][28]

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The Iran–Iraq War ended in August 1988. By that time, according to theIraq Survey Group Final Report,^[29] seven UN specialist missions had documented repeated use of chemicals in the war. According to Iraq itself, it consumed almost 19,500 chemical bombs, over 54,000 chemical artillery shells and 27,000 short-range chemical rockets between 1983 and 1988. Iraq declared it consumed about 1,800 tons of mustard gas, 140 tons of Tabun, and over 600 tons of Sarin. Almost two-thirds of the CW weapons were used in the last 18 months of the war.

All of this suggests that Iraq was in violation of the Geneva Protocol, a law that prohibits the use of chemical weapons. But how could Iraq have used chemical weapons repeatedly for five years without theSecurity Council's intervention?^[30] according toCIA reports, theReagan administration continued to aid Saddam despite knowing that he was carrying out the worst chemical attacks in history against Iran.^[31][32]

Examples of CW use by Iraq include the following from theFinal Report. (These are selected uses only. Numerous other smaller scale CW attacks occurred.)

OnMarch 16, 1988, the Halabja massacre occurred. TheIraqi army hit residential areas of the Iraqi city with sarin gas and the roads leading out of the city with mustard gas the day after. An estimated 3,200 to 5,000 people were killed. Most of the victims were Kurdish Iraqi civilians who died within minutes after the bombing and those who survived and tried to leave the city the following day were injured when they passed contaminated roads.

In the meanwhile, an Iraqi high-ranking authority officially confessed in a meeting withJavier Pérez de Cuéllar, theSecretary-General of the United Nations for the utilization of chemical weapons by Iraq.^[34]

• March 1991:an-Najaf –Karbala area – Nerve agent & CS,Shi'a casualties not known.^{[citation needed]}

During and after the Gulf War, the destruction of Iraq chemical weapon and ammunition facilities, including theKhamisiyah Ammunition Storage Facility, released sarin into the atmosphere. Exposure to sarin causes permanent damage to humans, resulting in the mass illness known asGulf War syndrome.^[35][36][37]

During theIraq War,United States Army soldiers discovered multiple extant chemical weapon stockpiles that had not been destroyed.^[38][39]

• Chemical Weapons Convention#Iraqi stockpile
• Iraq and weapons of mass destruction
  • Iraqi biological weapons program
• Rationale for the Iraq War
  • WMD conjecture after the 2003 invasion of Iraq
• Alleged British use of chemical weapons in Mesopotamia in 1920

33°49′00″N43°48′00″E / 33.8167°N 43.8000°E /33.8167; 43.8000

• Iraqi chemical weapons program
• War crimes in the Iran–Iraq War
• Weapons of Iraq
• Military of Iraq

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