NICOSIA [MENL] -- Iran has been rocked by a powerful earthquake that has so
far killed hundreds of people in an area that contains a major chemical
weapons facility.The earthquake struck northwestern Iran near the Turkish border. The
area hardest hit by the quake was the Qazvin province, where Iran's chemical
industry as well as a chemical weapons facility are located.U.S. officials said Iran has maintained a major chemical weapons
facility in Qazvin, west of Teheran. The Iranian CW infrastructure was built
as a plant for the production of pesticide plant in the late 1980s.Iran's main CW production facility is located at Damghan with other
plants located in Isfahan and Parchin. The Qazvin plant was constructed in
cooperation with India and is believed to manufacture phosphorous
pentasulfide, a precursor for nerve gas.
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