Singapore support for Iraq during the Iran – Iraq war Singapore , a major commercial hub with loose export controls on weapons , both served as a transshipment point for weapons destined for Iraq , as well as providing chemical warfare precursors and being a site for manufacture , under license , of foreign - designed weapons . Export controls . Speaking in the British House of Commons , Roger Barry commented that the only truly important thing in arms control is being certain the end user , on the end user certificate , is accurate . " There is no point the Department of Trade and Industry ( DTI ) ticking the box and saying , " They say this is going to our friendly neighbour Austria , " or , " This is going to our dear old friend Singapore . " From some statistics , it seems that Singapore has the largest navy , air force and army in the world . Mine warfare . Some of the most vivid images of the Iran - Iraq war were of Iranian volunteers charging into minefields , to clear them by sacrificing their own lives . Mine warfare in the Persian Gulf was one of the U . S . justifications for direct military action against Iran . It is relevant , then , to identify the sources of those mines . Italian mine warfare technology . Italy exported land and naval mines both to Iraq and Iran before and during the Iran - Iraq War . Its mine industry revolved around three small companies : Valsella , Misar , and Tecnovar . The latter two were formed by former Valsella employees . All three specialized in landmines and mine - related products and were involved in direct exports and licensed overseas production . Most of their revenues came from exporta , driven by favorable banking and export controls , and public support of military development . Given the importance of minefields , sometimes cleared with nothing but Iranian bravery , the significance of mines cannot be underestimated . See Italian support for Iraq during the Iran - Iraq war for the original Italian role when it directly exported mines , which , after the Italian government enforced export controls , moved its manufacturing to Singapore , using explosives from Oerlikon of Switzerland . Move of Italian work to Singapore . " With the outbreak of the Iran - Iraq war in September 1980 , Valsella began receiving government authorizations for exports to Iraq . A total of seven were granted , the last one issued in 1982 and expiring in January 1984 . The overall value of the exports amounted to more than US $ 110 million . But political pressures resulted in increasing restrictions on exports to Iraq . To skirt these restrictions , the company set up a new branch abroad in Singapore , where assembled mines with Vasella components and explosive from Bofors in Sweden , for shipment to Iraq in 1982 . Mines were exported to Iraq until 1986 . In 1984 , Fiat gradually gained control over Valsella and Misar . By this time Valsella mainly focused on the R & D of increasingly sophisticated landmines ( like electronic mines and mines with remote control activation , with radio crypto - coded signals ) , while Misar carried out considerable research and development of naval mines , though not to the exclusion of land systems Chemical warfare . In December 2002 , Iraq ' s 1 , 200 page Weapons Declaration revealed a list of Eastern and Western corporations and countries — as well as individuals — that exported chemical and biological materials to Iraq in the past two decades . By far , the largest suppliers of precursors for chemical weapons production were in Singapore ( 4 , 515 tons ) . The Kim Al - Khaleej firm of Singapore supplied more than 4 , 500 tons of VX , sarin , and mustard gas precursors and production equipment to Iraq . " Chief U . N . weapons inspector Hans Blix came to similar conclusions on Jan . 27 , [ 2002 ] when he delivered an " update " to the U . N . Security Council based on his inspection efforts in Iraq according to Timmerman , " . . . Blix ' s recent report to the United Nations documented many other instances in which Iraq has failed to disclose prohibited weapons . The Iraqi documents , revealed here for the first time , portray a worldwide procurement network that relied on top - drawer assistance from governments and major banks in Europe , Asia and the Middle East . Iraq ' s suppliers range from huge multinational corporations . . . little - known entities , such as an outfit identified by the Iraqis as " Kim Al - Khalleej " of Singapore , which they claimed supplied more than 4 , 500 tons of VX - , sarin - and mustard - gas precursors and production equipment . " The Iraqi disclosure mentioned various companies that have acted as third - country buyers for Iraq . . . " during the Iran - Iraq war India delivered precursors for warfare agents to Iraq - and later was found to have delivered quantities of the same materials to Iran . Baghdad ' s middleman at the time , an Iraqi with a German passport , founded a company in Singapore expressly for this purpose . "