A Study: Iran's Government Efforts to 'Weaponize' Chemical Agents

The Institute for Science and International Security, which works on nuclear weapons non-proliferation, published the results of its comprehensive study on the use of drug-based chemical agents by the Islamic Republic both domestically and abroad on December 5. This organization analyzed the activities of the Islamic Republic regarding drug-based agents and signs of their 'weaponization,' primarily focusing on two agents: fentanyl and medetomidine and their derivatives. The published report examines several security organizations of the Islamic Republic that have been preparing to produce incapacitating and lethal agents based on fentanyl and medetomidine. These organizations have worked on various aspects of producing these weapons, including the cost-effective and large-scale production of compounds with maximum potency and the development of delivery systems for these agents via grenades, bullets, or drones. The research results published in this report indicate that the chemistry group at Imam Hussein University is rapidly working on the 'militarization' of medetomidine as an incapacitating agent. The report emphasizes that the activities of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) regarding the 'aerosolization of medetomidine' indicate that work on this substance is not being conducted for medical research purposes. The activities of the Islamic Republic of Iran have raised concerns about the use of these chemical agents against civilians and military personnel in Israel and other parts of the Middle East. Although the phenomenon of drug-based chemical agents is not new, the fear of their use in warfare and their easy transfer over short and long distances by drones has made addressing this issue a necessity. This organization has called on entities affiliated with the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons to take the legitimate concerns regarding the weaponization of drug-based chemical agents and the violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention by the Islamic Republic seriously and to monitor it more closely. The 2023 annual report of the U.S. Department of State specifically mentions that researchers at Imam Hussein University, affiliated with the IRGC, and Malek Ashtar University of Technology, affiliated with the Iranian Ministry of Defense, have been working on fentanyl and medetomidine. U.S. officials state that the Islamic Republic has been conducting extensive research and development on drug-based chemical agents (PBAs) since at least 2005, which primarily includes anesthetic drugs aimed at incapacitating individuals by targeting the central nervous system, constituting a violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention. PBAs are chemical substances based on pharmaceutical compounds that can be beneficial and effective in legitimate medical applications. However, if misused or abused, they can cause serious side effects and lead to severe illness or even death. Experts now say that beyond the research and development program, the Islamic Republic has produced chemical agents based on fentanyl or other types of weapons in this form and has provided them to its proxy groups, which are said to have used them in several instances in Iraq and Syria. Domestically, several journalists and experts reported that chain poisonings in predominantly girls' schools showed symptoms related to drug-based chemical agents; a shocking incident that began in December 2022 following the 'Women, Life, Freedom' protests and has been widely perceived internationally as an effort by the government to prevent women and girls from education and to silence them. The Islamic Republic claims that this program is conducted under an exception allowed for the development of population control tools by the police. However, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons has criticized the Islamic Republic of Iran, Russia, and Syria for developing these dual-use chemical agents. Fentanyl is a potent synthetic opioid that is cost-effective to produce and is medically used for severe pain relief but can cause severe side effects such as respiratory arrest and can be fatal. Medetomidine is a chiral compound that is found as an enantiomer, with only one of the two enantiomers being pharmacologically active. Medetomidine is essentially a sedative and analgesic drug for veterinary use.