Despite the progress made by international conventions, biological weapons (BW) and chemical weapons (CW) still pose a threat.
More progress has been made by Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) states-parties and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in the destruction of declared CW stockpiles. Progress on the implementation of the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC), however, has been slower due to the lack of a formal verification mechanism.
There are 187 States Parties to the BWC, including Palestine, and four signatories (Egypt, Haiti, Somalia, and Syria). Ten states have neither signed nor ratified the BWC (Chad, Comoros, Djibouti, Eritrea, Israel, Kiribati).
For more information about the BWC, please see BWC at a Glance.
There are 193 states parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention. Israel has signed but not ratified the convention and Egypt, North Korea, South Sudan have neither signed nor ratified the CWC.
For more information about the CWC, please see CWC at a Glance and Chemical Weapons: Frequently Asked Questions.
Below is a list of states believed to currently possess or have once possessed biological and/or chemical weapons and their current status. Some states have officially declared BW or CW programs, while other programs have been alleged to exist by other states. Therefore, both official declarations and unofficial allegations of chemical and biological weapons programs are included below.
| BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS | CHEMICAL WEAPONS | |
| ALBANIA | State declaration: Although it joined the CWC in 1994, Albania did not acknowledge its possession of 16 metric tons of mustard agent (as well as small quantities of lewisite and other chemicals) until 2003. The OPCW declared Albania’s destruction complete in July 2007. | |
| CHINA | State Declaration: China states that it is in compliance with its BWC obligations and that it has never had an active BW program. Allegations: According to the United States, China’s BW activities have been extensive, and a 1993 State Department Compliance Report alleged that activities continued after China joined the BWC. The 2024 State Department Report on Compliance with Arms Control, Nonproliferation, and Disarmament Agreements and Commitments indicates that China is engaged in biological research with “potential BW applications including possible development of toxins for military purposes, including military research related to dual-use marine toxins.” | State Declaration: China states that it is in compliance with the CWC. China declared in 1997 that it had a small offensive CW program that has now been dismantled, which has been verified by over 500 inspections by the OPCW as of 2024. Allegations: The U.S. alleged in 2003 that China has an “advanced chemical weapons research and development program.” However, these allegations have decreased in magnitude in recent years and the State Department’s 2024 report on compliance with the CWC cited no such concerns; however, it added that “the United States cannot certify China’s compliance with CWC.” Other Information: Approximately 350,000 chemical munitions were left on Chinese soil by Japan during the Second World War. Work with Japan to dispose of these is ongoing. |
| CUBA | State declaration: Cuba denies any BW research efforts. Allegations: A 2003 State Department Compliance Report indicated that Cuba had “at least a limited developmental offensive biological warfare research and development effort.” The 2010 report claimed that “available information did not indicate Cuba’s dual-use activities during the reporting period involved activities prohibited by the BWC.” The 2024 report did not mention any problems with Cuba’s compliance with BWC. Allegations of BW programs have been made by Cuban defectors in the past. Other information: Cuba has a relatively advanced biotechnology industrial capabilities. | |
| EGYPT | State declaration: A vague statement alluding to a BW capability was reportedly made by President al-Sadat in 1970, but Egypt has not officially declared a biological weapons stockpile. As of 2024, Egypt remains only a signatory to the BWC. Allegations: There have been various allegations that Egypt possesses biological weapons. Some argue that Egypt’s reluctance to ratify the BWC signals that it does possess biological weapons. The United States alleged that Egypt had developed a biological weapons stockpile by 1972. The 2015 State Department compliance report notes that Egypt has "continued to improve its biotechnology infrastructure" over the past three years, including through research and development activities involving genetic engineering, as of 2014's end, "available information did not indicate that Egypt is engaged in activities prohibited by the BWC." | Allegations: There is strong evidence that Egypt employed bombs and artillery shells filled with phosgene and mustard agents during the Yemen Civil War from (1963 – 1967) but it is unclear if Egypt currently possesses chemical weapons. In 1989, the United States and Switzerland alleged that Egypt was producing chemical weapons in a plant north of Cairo. As a non-party to the CWC, Egypt has not had to issue any formal declarations about CW programs and capabilities. |
| INDIA | State declaration: India declared in June 1997 that it possessed a CW stockpile of 1,044 metric tons of mustard agent. India completed destruction of its stockpile in 2009. | |
| IRAN | State declaration: Iran has publicly renounced BW. Allegations: The U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency alleged in 2008 that Iran’s BW efforts “may have evolved beyond agent R&D, and we believe Iran likely has the capability to produce small quantities of BW agents but may only have a limited ability to weaponize them.” In the 2024 compliance report, the United States alleged that “Iran has not abandoned its intention to conduct research and development of biological agents and toxins for offensive purposes.” | State declaration: Iran has denounced the possession and use of CW in international forums. Allegations: Pre-2003 U.S. intelligence assessments alleged that Iran had a stockpile of CW. This stockpile is thought to have included blister, blood, and choking agents and probably nerve agents. In a 2024 report, The United States accused Iran of continuing non-compliance with the CWC for an incomplete stockpile and facilities declaration and alleged concern that Iran may be pursuing pharmaceutical-based agents for a military purpose. Other information: Iran suffered tens of thousands of casualties from Iraqi use of chemical weapons during the1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war. Iran’s CW program is believed to have been started after Iraqi CW use. There are no known credible allegations that Iran used any chemical weapons against Iraq in response. |
| IRAQ | State declaration: Iraq admitted to testing and stockpiling BW in the early- to mid-1990s. These stockpiles appear to have been destroyed by the UN Special Commission following the 1991 Gulf War, prior to the 2003 invasion. In 2005, the Iraq Survey Group, a fact-finding mission, concluded that Iraq’s offensive BW program had been abandoned by 1996. | State declaration: Iraq had an extensive chemical weapons program before the Persian Gulf War dating back to the 1960s under which it produced and stockpiled mustard, tabun, sarin, and VX. Iraq delivered chemical agents against Iranian forces during the Iran-Iraq War using aerial bombs, artillery, rocket launchers, tactical rockets, and helicopter-mounted sprayers and it also used chemical weapons against its Kurdish population in 1988. Its program was largely dismantled by United Nations weapons inspectors in the 1990s. Iraq declared in August 1998 that it had dismantled all of its chemical weapons in partnership with the UN Special Commission established for that purpose. Iraq then submitted an additional declaration to the OPCW of an unknown quantity of chemical weapons remnants contained in two storage bunkers in March 2009. Destruction activities were delayed due to an unstable security situation, but resumed in 2017. On March 13, 2018, the OPCW announced that all of Iraq's chemical weapons had been destroyed. |
| ISRAEL | State declaration: Israel has revealed little in terms of its biological weapons capabilities or programs. As of 2024, Israel only remains a signatory to the BWC Allegations: There is belief that Israel has had an offensive BW program in the past. It is unclear if this is still the case. | Allegations: Some allege that Israel had an offensive CW program in the past. It is unclear if Israel maintains an ongoing program. |
| LIBYA | State declaration: Libya announced in December 2003 that it would eliminate its BW program. Allegations: Between 1982 and 2003 there were many allegations of a Libyan biological weapons program, although later inspections failed to reveal any evidence to support these claims. | State declaration: In 2003, Libya announced it would be abandoning its CW program and in 2004 it declared possession of chemical agents and facilities. Libya declared 24.7 metric tons of mustard agent in bulk containers. In addition, it declared one inactivated chemical weapons production facility, two chemical weapons storage sites, 1,300 metric tons of precursor chemicals, and 3,563 unfilled aerial bombs. Libya completed the destruction of its Category 1 chemical weapons in January 2014. With assistance from the OPCW and other member states, Libya removed all of the remaining chemical weapons from its territory for destruction in August 2016. In January 2018, the OPCW declared that Libya's entire chemical weapons arsenal had been destroyed. For more information on Libya's disarmament see Chronology of Libya's Disarmament and Relations with the United States. |
| NORTH KOREA | Allegations: In a 2022 Ministry of National Defense White Paper, South Korea asserted that “[North Korea] is believed to possess the ability to independently cultivate and produce biological weapons, including anthrax, smallpox, and the bubonic plague.” The United States assessed North Korea to be in noncompliance with the BWC in its 2024 compliance report, indicating that “[North Korea] maintains a dedicated, national level offensive BW program” | Allegations: North Korea is widely believed to possess a large chemical stockpile including nerve, blister, choking, and blood agents. The 2012 unclassified intelligence assessment provided to Congress states that North Korea has a "long standing CW program" and "possesses a large stockpile of agents." In February 2017, North Korean agents used VX, a nerve agent, to assassinate Kim Jong Nam, the half-brother of Kim Jong Un in Malaysia. |
| RUSSIA | State declaration: In January 1992, Boris Yeltsin acknowledged that the Soviet Union had pursued an extensive and offensive BW program throughout the 1970s and 1980s in contravention of its BWC obligations Allegations: The Soviet Union’s extensive offensive germ program included weaponized tularemia, typhus, Q fever, smallpox, plague, anthrax, Venezuelan equine encephalitis, glanders, brucellosis, and Marburg. The Soviet Union also researched numerous other agents and toxins that can attack humans, plants, and livestock. The United States has repeatedly expressed concern about Russia’s inherited biological weapons program and uncertainty about Russia’s compliance with the BWC. The 2010 State Department report on compliance with the BWC details that Russia continues to engage in dual-use biological research activities, yet there is no evidence that such work is inconsistent with BWC obligations. It assesses that it remains unclear whether Russia has fulfilled its obligations under Article I of the convention. The 2017 report states that “Russia’s annual BWC CBM submissions since 1992 have not satisfactorily documented whether the BW items under these programs were destroyed or diverted to peaceful purposes, as required by Article II of the BWC.”
| State declaration: Russia possessed the world’s largest chemical weapons stockpile: approximately 40,000 metric tons of chemical agent, including VX, sarin, soman, mustard, lewisite, mustard-lewisite mixtures, and phosgene. Russia has declared its arsenal to the OPCW and commenced destruction. Along with the United States, Russia received an extension when it was unable to complete destruction by the 2012 deadline imposed by the CWC. A 2016 OPCW report indicated that as of 2015, Russia had destroyed about 92 percent of its stockpile (around 36,7500 metric tons). On September 27, 2017, the OPCW announced that Russia completed destruction of its chemical weapons arsenal. Allegations: The UK accused Russia of assassination attempt on a former Russian spy, Sergei Skripal, and his daughter Yulia, in the UK using the chemical agent Novichok on March 4, 2018. In a 2024 State Department report, the United States accused Russia of non-compliance with the CWC for its alleged use of Novichok against Skripals in 2018 and opposition leader Aleksey Navalny in 2020, the use of riot control agents in the war against Ukraine, and incomplete stockpiles declaration |
| SOUTH KOREA | State declaration: South Korea declared a chemical weapons stockpile of unspecified agents when it joined the CWC in 1997 and completed destruction of its declared arsenal on July 10, 2008. It does not admit publicly that it possessed chemical weapons and was noted in OPCW materials as a “state party.” | |
| SUDAN | State declaration: After acceding to the CWC in 1999, Sudan declared only a small selection of unspecified riot control agents. Allegations: There are unconfirmed reports that Sudan developed and used CW in the past. The U.S. in 1998 bombed an Al-Shifa pharmaceutical plant, alleging a CW factory. Independent experts, however, found no evidence of CW precursors in plant soil samples. | |
| SYRIA | State declaration: In July 2012, a spokesman for the Syrian Foreign Ministry confirmed that the country possesses biological warfare materials, but little was then known about the extent of the arsenal. On July 14, 2014, Syria declared the existence of production facilities and stockpiles of purified ricin, although little is known about the continued existence of such facilities in 2017 and beyond As of 2024, Syria only remains a signatory to the BWC. | State declaration: On September 20, 2013, Syria submitted a declaration of its chemical weapons and facilities to the OPCW after years of denying the program's existence. The OPCW announced that the entirety of Syria’s declared stockpile of 1,308 metric tons of sulfur mustard agent and precursor chemicals had been destroyed in January 2016. However, reports continue to surface of chemical weapon use in Syria, raising questions about the accuracy of its initial declaration. Allegations: Syria had an extensive program producing a variety of agents, including nerve agents such as sarin and VX, and blistering agents, according to governments and media sources. There were also some allegations of deployed CWs on SCUD missiles. Several UN-OPCW Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM) reports have found that the Syrian government was responsible for chemical weapons attacks in Syria, including in April 2014, March 2015, March 2016, and April 2017 and that the Islamic State was responsible for chemical weapons attacks in Syria in August 2015 and September 2016. In the 2024 State Department report on CWC compliance, the United States concurred with 2023 OPCW's conclusion that found “reasonable grounds” to believe that Syria used chemical weapons again in 2018. For more information about Syrian chemical weapon use see Timeline of Syrian Chemical Weapons Activity, 2012-2018. |
| TAIWAN | State declaration: Taiwan has declared that it possesses small quantities of CW for research but denies any weapons possession. | |
| THE UNITED STATES | State declaration: The United States unilaterally gave up its offensive biological weapons program in 1969. The destruction of all offensive BW agents occurred between 1971 and 1973. The United States currently conducts research as part of its biodefense program. Allegations: According to a compliance report published by the Russian government in August 2010, the United States is undertaking research on smallpox, which is prohibited by the World Health Organization. Russia also accused the United States in 2020 of undertaking BW research at a series of U.S.-funded labs near Russia and China, specifically at the Richard G. Lugar Center for Public Health Research in Tbilisi, Georgia – an allegation which the U.S. Department of Defense denied. | State declaration: The United States declared a large chemical arsenal of 27,770 metric tons to the OPCW after the CWC came into force in 1997. Along with Russia, the United States received an extension when it was unable to complete destruction of its chemical stockpiles by 2012. A 2019 OPCW report declared that the United States had destroyed approximately 91.47 percent of the chemical weapons stockpile it had declared as the CWC entered into force; over 25,000 metric tons of the declared total of 27,770. The United States has destroyed all of Category 2 and Category 3 weapons, and in July 2023, OPCW confirmed the destruction of the last Category 1 weapon, marking the complete destruction of the US-declared chemical weapons stockpile. Allegations: In 2010, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) accused the United States of trying to evade obligations under the CWC. According to US law, the US president has the right to refuse CWC inspections or prohibit samples from leaving the United States. |