Sarin

Sarin, also known by its NATO code of GB and with the chemical name O-isopropyl methylphosphonofluoridate, is a lethal, nonpersistent chemical weapon, of the nerve agent family. It was first synthesized by Germany in World War II, but was not produced at the time as its manufacture was more difficult than that of Tabun (GA). The name reportedly came from the names of its developers: Schraeder, Ambrose, Rudriger, and van der Linde.

After World War II, it was stockpiled by the Soviet Union, United States, and other countries, although banned by the 1972 Chemical Weapons Convention and has been subject to national destruction programs. It was stockpiled, and used in the Iran-Iraq War, by Iraq, and probably was still in the Iraqi stockpile at the time of the Gulf War, but most appears to have been destroyed by the Iraq War in 2003.

Counterproliferation

Sarin and its major precursors are explicitly listed in the Chemical Weapons Convention/Schedules and subject to international export controls for those that do not have extensive civilian dual-use.