Racedo
You're way off the mark.
The European controls were put in place in a hurry in 1984 when it was realised what was going on. Discovery to legislation in three days (two days for the UK).
As for the stories of Rumsfeld and Co, I don't believe a word. Iraq was obtaining its materials from Germany through a web of trading companies. When the Germans realised the destination all hell broke loose and some companies were closed overnight by the authorities. Iran was unlucky in that the trading companies it chose were more scrupulous, and asked questions.
However you have to understand that at that time, many involved didn't understand the significance of the materials involved. Chemical warfare was something from the distant past, and not considered.
Essentially when the ban kicked in, exports were prohibited to anyone not on the "Australia list" - who were basically USA, Japan, the then EEC, and the "white" Commonwealth. If Rumsfeld was supplying Iraq he would have been breaching similar legislation in the USA. However, its unlikely he was: it was well known in the trade that after the European ban, India, and later China, took over the role of supplying Iraq.
Neither were party to the legislation.
Suggestions that the USA were supplying chemical precursors to Iraq, are in my opinion unlikely. Especially considering the materials involved were (with a couple of exceptions) not manufactured in the USA, but were in Germany....
The question is whether the German manufacturers were complicit, but thats something I'm not going to discuss.
PS What may be of concern is that Iran will almost certainly have improved its own technology. It now is making its own drugs, fertilisers and pesticides - not a far removed step from war gases. Given its close trading relationship with China, importing precursors should be no problem for it. Much is spoken of Irans nuclear potential, but what of its chemical weapons capabilities?
Last edited by COCL2; 20th Jan 2012 at 19:00.