Economist
Perhaps
The IISS's assessment
Nuclear/radiological
• Does not possess facilities to produce fissile material in sufficient amounts for nuclear weapons.
• Would require at least several years and extensive foreign assistance to build such fissile material production facilities.
• Could probably assemble nuclear weapons within months if fissile material from foreign sources were obtained.
• Current interest in radiological weapons unknown. Could divert domestic civil-use radio-isotopes or seek to obtain foreign material for a crude device.
Biological
• Probably retained substantial growth media and agents from pre-1991 stocks.
• Capable of resuming agent production on short notice (weeks) from existing facilities; could have produced thousands of litres of anthrax, botulinum toxin and other agents since 1998. Actual stocks unknown.
• Production of viral agents, possession of smallpox unknown.
Chemical
• Probably retained mustard and precursors for a few hundred tonnes of sarin/cyclosarin; perhaps similar amount of VX from pre-1991 stocks.
• Capable of resuming production on short notice (months) from existing civilian facilities; could have produced hundreds of tonnes of agent (mustard and nerve agents) since 1998. Actual stocks unknown.
Delivery means
• Probably retained a small force of 650km (400 mile) range al-Husseinmissiles, perhaps around 12 missiles.
• Lacks facilities to produce long-range missiles, would require several years and extensive foreign assistance to construct such facilities.
• May have produced some al-Samoud missiles, with ranges up to 200km.
• Capable of manufacturing rudimentary chemical and biological warheads.
• Capable of converting civilian vehicles to mobile launchers.
• Capable of delivering biological weapons with simple airborne wet-spray devices; development of more advanced devices for wet spray or dry agents unknown.
