Iran strongly denied on Friday allegations by an exile opposition group that it had biological weapons.
A senior government official said the charge made by the National Council of Resistance of Iran that Tehran had biological weapons armed with anthrax, smallpox and typhoid was false. "I strongly deny that we have biological weapons because we do not need any banned weapons," the official told Reuters.
The opposition group, the political wing of the People's Mujahideen Organization of Iran, provided a list of names and places at a Washington news conference where they claimed biological weapons were being produced.
The group did not provide any evidence to back up its new claims on biological weapons.
"The Mujahideen are making these accusations against Iran because of the recent U.S. pressure on them," the Tehran official said on Friday. "Iran is opposed to all types of weapons of mass destruction," the official said.
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
