Qazvin (west of Tehran)is said to be one of Iran's major chemical weapons facilities, along with the facilities located at Damghan [the primary production facility], Esfahan and Parchin. Supposedly a pesticide plant, this facility is reported to have been completed between November 1987 and January 1988. Iran continues to upgrade and expand its chemical warfare production infrastructure and munitions arsenal, which includes blister, blood, choking agents, and nerve agents. India is assisting in the construction of a major new plant at Qazvim to manufacture phosphorous pentasulfide, a precursor for nerve gas.
Qazvin is the commercial center of the surrounding agricultural region. The province lies to the north-west of Tehran on the main road between Tehran and Tabriz. The Silk Road, the ancient trade route between the East and the West, used to passs to Turkey via Qazvin and Tabriz. The area is populated by a mixture of Ádharí Turks in the villages and predominantly Shi'ite Persians in the towns. Qazvin has textile and flour mills, and wine is produced here. The city was founded in the 3rd century AD, and a mosque, now in ruins, was built here by Harun ar-Rashid in the 8th century. Among Qazvin’s many historic relics are the Jame Mosque, dating back to the Seljuq period and boasting the largest ‘mihrab’ of any mosque in Iran. Qazvin was damaged by Mongol invasions in the 13th century. Very fine carpets were produced here up to the late 1930s, when Qazvin ceased making carpets.As of 11 April 2000 Russian 2-meter resolution KVR-1000 imagery coverage was not available via the SPIN-2 service on TerraServer, nor was archived Space Imaging IKONOS 1-meter imagery of this facility available on the CARTERRA™ Archive.
