In a tense atmosphere, American forces are on high alert for the grim possibility that Iran might resort to chemical or biological attacks against troops or civilians. This comes amidst President Donald Trump’s ongoing military actions against the nation, insiders reveal.
While the primary concerns remain conventional missiles and drone strikes, there is a lurking threat that Iran may employ more unconventional methods. Experts have indicated to the Daily Mail that these tactics, though not deployed yet, are not off the table.
As the conflict between the United States and Iran enters its fourth week, reports suggest that the hostilities could extend through the summer months. The Pentagon continues its offensive, targeting sites within Iran, while Tehran responds in kind.
The Iranian regime finds itself in a precarious position following the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on the war’s first day. Adding to the turmoil, the Ayatollah’s son, poised to take over the Islamic Republic, has been absent from the public eye, allegedly due to injuries.
This week saw devastating bombings that claimed the lives of more Iranian leaders. Although the use of chemical weapons by Tehran is currently deemed improbable, analysts warn that such actions could drastically escalate the conflict, particularly as the regime approaches a possible collapse.
Now, experts are warning that Iran’s longstanding chemical and biological weapons knowledge could more seriously be deployed against its enemies – and its own people.
US soldiers, at least 13 of whom have already been killed since the start of the conflict, as well as civilians in the Middle East could be directly targeted.
‘This is all we worried about,’ a former US soldier stationed in the Middle East until recently told the Daily Mail.
‘I carried full MOPP [Mission Oriented Protective Posture] gear everywhere, yet there’s no mention of it in the media. This is their nuke… and it’s totally in the cards right now,’ the ex-soldier added.
Airmen war mission-oriented protective posture gear (MOPP) in case of a chemical attack
A simulated battlefield environment with the test players wearing Level 4 Mission Oriented Protective Posture (MOPP) protective gear
MOPP gear is a system of protection against chemical agents, ranging from lower coverage to full biohazard suits, masks and gloves depending on how imminent the threat of a chemical attack is. While deployed soldiers always carry some level of protection, full MOPP, or level 4, is rare in a warzone.
‘All soldiers are trained to protect themselves against chemical weapons. Military units have dedicated Chemical Bio Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) gear to detect and defend against these threats,’ a military official told the Daily Mail.
The use of full protective equipment underscores the US military’s concern that chemical and biological weapons pose a real threat to service members.
The soldier said about Sarin nerve agent specifically: ‘I’ve seen people choke on it, it’s a gnarly, brutal death, and you can’t hide from it – it seeps into everything and through walls.’
The soldier added that the chemical weapons are ‘easy to disperse and put on a warhead, artillery, cruise missile, or drone. Easy peasy.’
He noted how service members on base were ordered to carry their CBRN equipment with them ‘everywhere’ and were trained to put it on within 60 seconds in case of attack.
However, even a relatively contained attack could be highly disruptive, slowing down base operations and necessitating decontamination efforts.
Iran initially developed its chemical weapons program in response to Iraq’s growing capabilities under Saddam Hussein in the 1980s.
Since 1997, the CIA assessed that Iranians could put chemical weapons on missiles, Paul Freidrichs, former senior director for global health security and biodefense at the National Security Council, told the Daily Mail.
Leading biodefense expert Professor Gregory Koblentz said Iran ‘certainly’ has the ability to ‘put chemical or biological payloads into standard rockets and bombs.’
‘That would not be too hard to do,’ he said. ‘It might not be super effective or efficient, but that’s certainly doable.’
US Central Command Public Affairs shows M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems
The US has destroyed all of its chemical and biological weapons in accordance with the Chemical Weapons Convention. Above are barrels of mustard and blister agents in the Utah desert before their destruction
But should Iran or any other actor fire chemical or biological weapons at a US base in the Gulf, Koblentz believes US casualties would remain limited, given the widespread CBRN training and gear among the ranks.
The US also takes precautions against biological weapons by mandating vaccines for troops.
The picture would be far bleaker for nearby civilians.
A poorly aimed agent-based weapon or a deliberate targeting of civilians would cause ‘very significant’ casualties, Koblentz stated.
However he added that the odds of the Iranian regime choosing to do so remain ‘extremely small’ because of the retaliatory actions that would be sure to follow from the US, Israel, and other nearby nations.
‘It’s a concern, but it’s pretty low down compared to all of the havoc they can still wreak on the energy infrastructure in the Persian Gulf using traditional missiles,’ the professor stated.
‘It affirms, again, concerns about Iran having dual-use capabilities that could be used to produce weapons of mass destruction and difficulty verifying that Iran is complying with the international norms to which they are a signatory,’ he said.
Open-source intelligence and reporting suggest that Iran never fully resolved, declared or dismantled its chemical weapon pursuits.
Further, recent reporting suggests that Iran is pressing ahead on dual-use pharmaceutical facilities that can produce both Botox and biohazards.
‘The key thing that the US alleges that Iran is currently doing… is that they’re developing what are called pharmaceutical-based agents as chemical weapons,’ Koblentz said.
Pharmaceutical-based agents (PBAs) are chemicals that have legitimate medical or veterinary use that can also be engineered as crowd-control weapons used against dissidents or enemy soldiers.
They occupy a chilling middle ground between medicine and warfare.
In 2023, hackers published designs for grenades to release medetomidine, a sedative, that were reportedly designed by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Crops by researchers at Imam Hossein University
The hackers also released grenade launcher designs that could deploy the sedative gas
As the Islamic Republic’s leadership is killed and the regime appears closer to collapse than ever before, some experts are expressing concern about Iran’s long history with chemical weapons and whether it could use them to help country’s leaders stay in power
At the lower end of the spectrum are crowd-control agents, irritants that, while not designed to kill, can be devastatingly effective at subduing a population.
‘Typically, these are irritants that will cause people’s eyes to water and their nose to run, and may cause a sense of choking or feeling like you’re having difficulty getting a good breath in,’ Friedrichs explained.
‘They can be very effective at getting a crowd to disperse, because people are now feeling like they’re choking or crying and their nose is running.’
Koblentz noted that Iranian universities have researched how to put PBAs into grenades, a dangerous implication highlighting how such weapons could target civilians.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine hold a briefing amid the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran
In 2023, hackers published designs for grenades to release medetomidine, a sedative, that were reportedly designed by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps by researchers at Imam Hossein University. US officials later confirmed the hack.
‘Iranian universities… have done research on certain sedatives… [and] research on how to weaponize these things, and, for example, put them into grenades… that is a military use… and therefore would not be allowed under the Chemical Weapons Convention,’ he continued.
One report from the US military academy at West Point noted how there have been efforts in Iran to produce fentanyl-based weapons.
‘Iran now appears to have produced fentanyl-based or other types of weaponized PBAs and provided these to partners and proxy groups that may have already used them in several cases in Iraq and Syria,’ a 2024 report from West Point’s Combating Terrorism Center claims.
The research of fentanyl-based agents represents perhaps the most alarming branch of Iran’s alleged PBA program.
Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid already responsible for mass casualties in the American drug crisis, can be aerosolized and engineered to render victims unconscious or cause respiratory failure at very small doses.
The State Department concluded in 2020 that Iran’s PBA research included compounds with dissociation, sedation, and amnestic effects. However, Iran denied the claims, arguing its programs were for defensive or medical purposes.
The PBAs are not city-destroying weapons; instead, they appear tailored for domestic use in the case of mass protests or uprisings.
Though there have been no reports indicating Iran has used PBAs against its own civilians, the research into the agents is ‘very concerning,’ Koblentz stated.
When it comes to biological weapons, however, the picture is murkier still.
Friedrichs drew a clear distinction between chemical and biological weapons.
‘Chemical weapons were literally something created in the lab as a result of a chemical process that can cause harm to the person exposed,’ he explained.
‘Biological weapons often were things that occurred in nature that can be produced in enough quantities that when humans or other species are exposed to them, they can cause whoever is being exposed to become sick – things like anthrax or smallpox.’
The US has not accused Iran of violating the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC), but it has raised concerns about Iran’s ‘dual use’ facilities.
For example, botulinum toxin, one of the most lethal substances in the world, also the active ingredient in Botox, is produced in Iran for its domestic cosmetic industry.
‘There are legitimate reasons that [Iran has] facilities and researchers interested in these toxins, and yet… the United States also views that as possibly something that could be misused,’ Kolbentz said.
Still, the idea that Iran’s latent ability to produce such toxins could be ramped up in a wartime scenario, such as the current US-Iran war, remains a persistent concern among US officials.
But questions persist about whether Iran could effectively deploy biological, chemical or pharmaceutical weapons should the Islamic regime want to.
The experts warned that Iran already has ballistic missile capabilities that chemical or biological weapons could be attached to. Though they were unsure of how effective any potential Iranian weapon may be
Iran’s Shahed-136 drone has been central to the Islamic Republic’s counterattack plans
Friedrichs agreed that the consequences of crossing that line would be severe.
In the near term, the experts expect Iran to remain committed to using its conventional arsenal of drones and missiles to keep on fighting.
But the Iranian government could consider using chemical weapons if the regime fears its total collapse. There’s no knowing how far Trump will go before ending his war on Iran.
