Iran has contravened the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) by enhancing its chemical weapons capabilities for home and international use, says the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
The nonprofit research group cited a November 26 report by the Institute for Science and International Security which indicates Iran has been focusing on how to produce and deliver pharmaceutical-based chemical agents (PBAs) for use in military attacks, using a variety of delivery systems, including drones.
PBAs are "dual-purpose chemicals often used for medical and veterinary purposes, but can also be weaponized for offensive goals," according to the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point.
In an Iran update on November 26, the ISW said the state is "actively violating the CWC and continues to advance its ability to develop and deploy its chemical weapons capabilities both inside and outside of Iran."
The think tank also said it is likely Iran "supplied its partners and proxy groups with weaponized PBAs, which the Axis of Resistance could deploy in future military conflicts."
Newsweek has reached out to the ISW for further comment.
The Institute for Science and International Security's report cited by the ISW also warns that one drone designed by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to fire grenades, also reportedly carried tear gas when being tested, meaning Iranian drones could act as a potential delivery system for PBAs.
Iran has been accused of supplying ballistic missiles and drones to Russia to use against Ukraine in the war. The Iranian government has denied sending weapons to Russia.
The institute's report highlights "multiple Iranian security complexes that have been preparing production of fentanyl and medetomidine based incapacitating and lethal agents."
"These complexes have been working on pillars of producing those weapons: large-scale cost-efficient synthesis of the compounds with maximum potency, evaluating a stable chemical mixture based on those agents that can be aerosolized using a propellant, and developing the delivery of the agents through grenades, bullets, or drones," it adds.
Universities affiliated with Iran's armed forces have been working on militarizing fentanyl, the low-cost synthetic opioid often used to treat severe pain, by researching fentanyl's analogues, other drugs with similar chemical properties, to discover "clinically more useful drugs." In doing so, these universities altered the drug to make it easier to mass produce.
The IRGC has also been working on militarizing medetomidine, a central nervous system depressant typically used as a sedative and analgesic in combination with other drugs for anesthesia, to act as an incapacitating agent, the report says. One process of militarizing medetomidine is known as aerosolization, the process of turning a substance into a liquid or gas that can be sprayed.
Iran signed the Chemical Weapons Convention in 1993, and it came into force in 1997.
The convention was established by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), and is a multilateral disarmament agreement that "aims to eliminate an entire category of weapons of mass destruction by prohibiting the development, production, acquisition, stockpiling, retention, transfer or use of chemical weapons by States Parties," according to the OPCW's website.
Laura Gross, U.S. Representative to the OPCW, made a statement about Iran's development of PBAs in March and said, according to the institute's report: "The United States also assesses that since acceding to the CWC, Iran has developed and filled weapons with pharmaceutical-based agents in violation of its obligations to the Convention."
Newsweek reached out to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran for comment via email, and to the Institute for Science and International Security via email outside of business hours.
The ISW also said that Iran is capable of using its PBA weapons program internally as well as externally, citing the Institute's report that these weapons could be used against civilians. It highlights concerns that the IRGC used medetomidine-filled MK 2 cartridges against Iranian civilian protesters during 2022 civilian protests.
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