Monkey Warfare?
By: Web Producer
Updated: July 8, 2008
Report: Iranian Purchases Of Monkeys Spark Fears About Chemical Warfare
(London) -- Reports of Iranian purchases of hundreds of wild monkeys are fueling suspicion about chemical warfare experiments.
The "Times" of London cites a Tanzanian dealer who says scientists at an Iranian research institute bought more than 200 vervet monkeys from him over the past year.
He has become suspicious about the true motives of the scientists, who told him they were going to be used for vaccines.
He said the monkeys bought by scientists at the Razi Vaccine and Serum Institute near Tehran were not the proper weight to be used for vaccine purposes.
U.S. intelligence sources have said the Iranian pharmaceutical industry has long been used as a cover for developing germ warfare.
The Razi facility has been accused in the past by an Iranian opposition group of conducting biological testing.
(Copyright 2008 by Newsroom Solutions)
RNS-07-08-08 0243CDT
