Russian Biologist Denies Work in Iran on Germ Weapons
By JUDITH MILLER
The New York Times
Jan19, 1999
A Russian biologist in Iran has denied conducting research that could
have helped the Soviet Union or Iran develop germ weapons.
The biologist, Dr. Valery Bakayev, said in a brief telephone interview
that while he has worked at the Pasteur Institute in Tehran for more than
five years, his work has focused solely on the civilian development of
vaccines against diseases like tuberculosis and on other nonmilitary research.
He denied having worked in any offensive germ warfare program for the Soviet
Union or Iran.
The New York Times reported on Dec. 8 that the government of Iran is
seeking to recruit Russian scientists to help it develop biological, nuclear
and chemical weapons, and that Iran had hired several scientists once associated
with institutes that were part of the Soviet Union's germ warfare program.
The article mentioned Bakayev and Vladimir Rishinski as two Russian
scientists who had once worked for such institutes and who are now conducting
research in Iran. They could not be reached for comment before the article
was published.
After the article appeared, Bakayev denied in an interview with MSNBC
any prior or current participation in the development of germ weapons.
He said he "can firmly deny" that any Russian scientists he
knows "took part in any illegal activity related to germ warfare production."
In the telephone interview, Bakayev said he could not elaborate on his
statement or provide more details about how he came to work in Tehran.
Both a senior defector from the Soviet Union's germ warfare program and
Western officials identified the institutes for which Bakayev and Rishinski
once worked as having been part of the Soviet Union's germ warfare effort.
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