Official: Iran ready to confront ‘biological, chemical’ threats

Iran is ready to confront any biological or chemical threats, Deputy Defence Minister Brigadier General Mahdi Farhi said.

The Defence Ministry “has equipped 51 cities in the country with the necessary facilities and equipment for passive defence,” he explained, adding that “a passive defence headquarters has been established to carry out tasks such as identifying and monitoring threats, and supplying and coordinating physical infrastructure, with the aim of responding to these threats.”

The ministry “is now able to identify the threats thanks to the infrastructure put in place to confront all sorts of biological, radiological and chemical threats.”

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Last year, former Iranian Defence Minister Amir Hatami said it was vital to confront any nuclear, biological or chemical threats.

“We must be ready to defend our nation against all the threats that the enemy might use against us one day, including chemical, nuclear and biological weapons,” he said at the time.

During the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988), the forces of former President Saddam Hussein attacked the city of Sardasht, northwest of Iran, with chemical weapons killing 119 people and wounding 1,518 others.

A number of the city’s residents continue to suffer as a result of the attack to this day.