Other names: VIRA
Address: The Vira Laboratory is located on Shari'ati Street in Teheran.
Website: None known
Phone number: None known
Subordinate to: Since Khatami's election as president, Vira is supposedly the chemical laboratory of the Defense Ministry's Special Industries Organization.
Size: As of January 1999, the laboratory had 250 employees.
Primary Function: Research, testing, and production of chemical and biological warfare-related materials

History: A 1995 Intelligence Newsletter report claimed that Vira tested chemical and biological products on animals and that Dr. Abbas Pour (also alleged head of the Special Industries Organization) was said to control the laboratory.

Activities: According to the National Council of Resistance of Iran, as of January 1999, the Vira Laboratory focused on soil contamination agents and had successfully engaged in their production. Dr. Riazi was alleged to be the head of the laboratory.

Key Sources: Remarks to the Press by Soona Samsami, US Representative of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, 26 January 1999, p. 2.; Arnold Beichman, "Arsenal of Germs in Iran?" Washington Times, 26 January 1999, p. A17; "Iran's Chemical Build-Up," Intelligence Newsletter, Indigo Publications, 9 November 1995; "Hungary Reportedly Helped Iran Repaort Parchin Chemical Weapons Facility," Jerusalem Middle East Newsline E-mail Text in English, 22 August 2002; in FBIS document GMP20020822000212.

	Updated August 2003