Iraqi chemical weapons program

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The Iraqi chemical weapons program was an aspect of the country's pursuit of weapons of mass destruction until the 1990s. In violation of the Geneva 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 president Saddam Hussein, was successful and saw the deployment of chemical weapons during the country's military campaigns against Iran and the Kurdish people. 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 the 1973 Arab–Israeli War. However, it was not until Saddam took power that the program experienced significant and steady progress. Though lacking stockpiles at the time of the Iraqi 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 waging chemical warfare. Beginning in 1983, Iraqi chemical attacks against Iran were confirmed by the United Nations to have taken place on multiple occasions over the course of the Iran–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 the 1988 Anfal campaign (as evidenced by the Halabja massacre), which resulted in the deaths of as many as 100,000 people, according to Human Rights Watch. In January 1991, during the Iraqi occupation of Kuwait, Iraq began firing missiles at civilian targets in Israel and at American troops in Saudi Arabia, raising concerns of potential chemical attacks, but all of...