Weapons of Mass Destruction in the Middle East
Reported Use of Chemical Weapons, Ballistic Missiles, and Cruise Missiles in the Middle East*
Current WMD Middle East Information
Please note this section is no longer being updated. For the latest Middle East WMD information, please visit these links:
Country Profiles
Information on nuclear, biological & chemical weapons and missile programs, with details on capabilities, facilities, chronologies, and imports/exports.
CNS maintains these Country Profile databases for the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI).
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Chemical weapons |
Ballistic missiles |
Cruise missiles |
Egypt |
1963-67: Mustard agents and phosgene used against royalist forces in Yemen civil war.
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10/73: FROG-7 artillery rockets and Scud-B missiles fired at Israeli targets.
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10/21/67: Fast patrol boat sinks Israeli destroyer Eilat with two SS-N-2 Styx missiles.
10/6/73-11/73: Egyptian forces fire SSC-2b Samlet and AS-5 Kelt cruise missiles at Israeli sea and land forces.
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Iran |
1984-88: Mustard agents used against Iraqi forces during the Iran-Iraq War.
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1980-88: 100+ Scud-B and several hundred rockets fired at Iraqi military and civilian targets during the Iran-Iraq War.
4/20/88: Scud-B missile fired at Wafra oil field in Kuwait.
11/7/94: Three or four Scud missiles fired at Mujahideen Khalq camp in Ashraf, Iraq.
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9-10/87: At least six Silkworm missiles fired at Kuwaiti shipping and oil processing facilities. |
Iraq |
1983-88: Mustard and nerve agents used against Iranian forces during the Iran-Iraq War.
1988: Mustard and nerve agents used against Kurdish settlements in Iraq
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1980-88: Over 500 Scud-B and al-Hussein missiles, as well as hundreds of rockets fired at Iranian military and civilian targets during the Iran-Iraq War.
1/17-2/91: Over 90 al-Hussein and al-Hijara missiles fired at Bahrain, Israel and Saudi Arabia.
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5/17/87: Mirage F-1 fighter aircraft damages the US frigate Stark with two Exocet missiles.
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Israel |
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10/6/73-11/73: Israeli naval forces sink Syrian and Egyptian ships with Gabriel anti-ship missiles.
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Italy |
Late 1920s: Mustard agents used against Libyan forces during the Italo-Libyan War.
1935-36: Mustard agents, tear gas, and other asphyxiating agents used against Ethiopian forces in the Italo-Ethiopian War.
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Libya |
9/87: Iranian-supplied mustard agents used against Chadian troops.
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4/15/86: Two or three Scud-B missiles fired at US Coast Guard facility on Italian island of Lampedusa.
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Syria |
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10/73: SS-N-2 Styx missiles fired at Israeli navy ships.
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United States |
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1/17-2/91: Over 300 Tomahawk and AGM-86 missiles fired at Iraqi targets.
1/17/93: 45 Tomahawk missiles fired at Zaafaraniyeh industrial complex in Iraq.
6/26/93: 23 Tomahawk missiles fired at Iraqi intelligence facilities.
9/3-9/4/96: 44 Tomahawk missiles fired at Iraqi air-defense facilities.
8/20/98: 12+ Tomahawk cruise missiles destroy al-Shifa Pharmaceutical Factory in Khartoum, Sudan.
12/16-12/19/98: 400+ Tomahawk missiles fired at 100 Iraqi military installations.
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Yemen |
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5/94: North and South Yemeni forces exchange missile barrages on Sana and Aden.
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* For sources and further details, see Michael Barletta and Erik Jorgensen, "Missiles, NBC Weapons,
and Conflict in the Middle East: An Annotated Chronology," May 1999, Center for Nonproliferation
Studies, Monterey Institute of International Studies.
Michael Barletta and Erik Jorgensen, May 1999.
© Center for Nonproliferation Studies,
Monterey Institute of International Studies.
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