diff --git a/Project.toml b/Project.toml
index 79df658..f19b08d 100644
--- a/Project.toml
+++ b/Project.toml
@@ -8,14 +8,21 @@ Expronicon = "6b7a57c9-7cc1-4fdf-b7f5-e857abae3636"
 MLStyle = "d8e11817-5142-5d16-987a-aa16d5891078"
 YaoLocations = "66df03fb-d475-48f7-b449-3d9064bf085b"
 
+[weakdeps]
+OpenQASM = "a8821629-a4c0-4df7-9e00-12969ff383a7"
+
+[extensions]
+YaoHIRExt = ["OpenQASM"]
+
 [compat]
 Expronicon = "0.10"
 MLStyle = "0.4"
 YaoLocations = "0.1"
-julia = "1.6"
+julia = "1.9"
 
 [extras]
 Test = "8dfed614-e22c-5e08-85e1-65c5234f0b40"
+OpenQASM = "a8821629-a4c0-4df7-9e00-12969ff383a7"
 
 [targets]
-test = ["Test"]
+test = ["Test", "OpenQASM"]
diff --git a/ext/YaoHIRExt.jl b/ext/YaoHIRExt.jl
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e28eaee
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ext/YaoHIRExt.jl
@@ -0,0 +1,80 @@
+module YaoHIRExt 
+
+using YaoHIR, YaoLocations
+using YaoHIR.IntrinsicOperation
+using MLStyle
+using OpenQASM
+using OpenQASM.Types: Instruction, CXGate, Measure, Reset, MainProgram, Include, RegDecl, ASTNode
+using Core.Compiler: IRCode
+
+function YaoHIR.BlockIR(ast::MainProgram) 
+  convert_to_blockir(ast::MainProgram)
+end
+function YaoHIR.BlockIR(qasm::String) 
+  convert_to_blockir(OpenQASM.parse(qasm)::MainProgram)
+end
+
+qarg_address(i::Instruction) = Locations(parse(Int, i.qargs[1].address.str) + 1)
+qarg_address(i::CXGate) = Locations(parse(Int, i.qarg.address.str) + 1)
+#qarg_address(i::CZGate) = Locations(parse(Int, i.qarg.address.str) + 1)
+ctrl_address(i::ASTNode) = Locations(parse(Int, i.ctrl.address.str) + 1)
+
+
+push_prog!(circ::Chain, prog::Any) = prog !== nothing && push!(circ.args, prog)
+
+function convert_to_blockir(ast::MainProgram)
+  qubits = sum([parse(Int, m.size.str) for m in ast.prog if m isa RegDecl && m.type.str == "qreg"])
+  ir = IRCode()
+  chain = Chain()
+  [push_prog!(chain, prog_to_gate(prog)) for prog in ast.prog]
+  BlockIR(ir, qubits, chain)
+end
+
+
+function instruction_to_gate(i::Instruction)
+  @switch i.name begin
+    @case "z"
+    Gate(Z, qarg_address(i))
+    @case "x"
+    Gate(X, qarg_address(i))
+    @case "h"
+    Gate(H, qarg_address(i))
+    @case "s"
+    Gate(S, qarg_address(i))
+    @case "sdg"
+    Gate(AdjointOperation(S), qarg_address(i))
+    @case "t"
+    Gate(S, qarg_address(i))
+    @case "tdg"
+    Gate(AdjointOperation(T), qarg_address(i))
+    @case "rx"
+    error("Gate $i not yet implemented")
+    @case "rx"
+    error("Gate $i not yet implemented")
+    @case "shift"
+    error("Gate $i not yet implemented")
+    @case "id"
+    nothing
+    @case _
+    error("Gate $i not supported")
+  end
+end
+
+function prog_to_gate(a::Any)
+  @match a begin
+    i::Include => nothing
+    r::RegDecl => nothing
+    inst::Instruction => instruction_to_gate(inst)
+    cx::CXGate => Ctrl(Gate(X,
+        Locations(qarg_address(cx))),
+      CtrlLocations(ctrl_address(cx)))
+
+#    cz::CZGate => Ctrl(Gate(Z,
+#        Locations(qarg_address(cz))),
+#      CtrlLocations(ctrl_address(cz)))
+    m::Measure => nothing
+    r::Reset => error("only unitaries are supported, please use the function reconstruct_unitaries from the package QuantumCircuitEquivalence.jl")
+  end
+end
+
+end
diff --git a/src/YaoHIR.jl b/src/YaoHIR.jl
index 42e4cf0..afd3fcb 100644
--- a/src/YaoHIR.jl
+++ b/src/YaoHIR.jl
@@ -1,11 +1,11 @@
 module YaoHIR
 
 export GenericRoutine, Routine,
-    IntrinsicRoutine,
-    Operation,
-    AdjointOperation,
-    Chain, Gate, Ctrl,
-    BlockIR
+  IntrinsicRoutine,
+  Operation,
+  AdjointOperation,
+  Chain, Gate, Ctrl,
+  BlockIR
 
 using MLStyle
 using Expronicon
diff --git a/src/types.jl b/src/types.jl
index 1d8d83d..8cb44f7 100644
--- a/src/types.jl
+++ b/src/types.jl
@@ -114,6 +114,10 @@ struct BlockIR
     circuit::Chain
 end
 
+function BlockIR(_::Any)
+ error("it is required to load OpenQASM for conversion .qasm. Run 'using OpenQASM'")
+end
+
 @as_record Chain
 @as_record Gate
 @as_record Ctrl
diff --git a/test/hir.jl b/test/hir.jl
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4177b7f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/hir.jl
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+
+@testset "types" begin
+@test YaoHIR.routine_name(TestIntrinsic.X) == :X
+@test YaoHIR.routine_name(TestIntrinsic.R(1.0)) == :R
+@test TestIntrinsic.R(1.0).theta == 1.0
+
+display(X)
+display(Rx(1.0))
+display(YaoHIR.Operation(X, 2.0))
+
+circ = Chain(
+    Gate(X, Locations(1)),
+    Core.SSAValue(1),
+    Ctrl(Gate(Core.SSAValue(1), Locations(3)), CtrlLocations(2))
+)
+
+print(circ)
+
+@test YaoHIR.leaves(circ) == [Gate(X, Locations(1)),
+    Core.SSAValue(1),
+    Ctrl(Gate(Core.SSAValue(1), Locations(3)), CtrlLocations(2))
+]
+
+end
+
+
+@testset "test match" begin
+    gate = Gate(X, Locations(2))
+
+    @match gate begin
+        Gate(op, locs) => begin
+            @test op == X
+            @test locs == Locations(2)
+        end
+    end
+
+    ctrl = Ctrl(Gate(X, Locations(2)), CtrlLocations(3))
+
+    @match ctrl begin
+        Ctrl(Gate(op, locs), ctrl) => begin
+            @test op == X
+            @test locs == Locations(2)
+            @test ctrl == CtrlLocations(3)
+        end
+    end
+end
+
+@testset "isequal" begin
+    circuit1 = Chain(Gate(H, Locations((1, ))), Gate(H, Locations((1, ))))
+    circuit2 = Chain(Gate(H, Locations((1, ))), Gate(H, Locations((1, ))))
+    @test circuit1 == circuit2
+end
+
diff --git a/test/instrinsic.jl b/test/instrinsic.jl
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3988896
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/instrinsic.jl
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+module TestIntrinsic
+using YaoHIR: @intrinsic
+
+@intrinsic X
+@intrinsic R(theta::T) where {T <: Real}
+@intrinsic SWAP
+
+end
+
+@testset "instrinic" begin
+
+  @test YaoHIR.routine_name(TestIntrinsic.X) == :X
+  @test YaoHIR.routine_name(TestIntrinsic.R(1.0)) == :R
+  @test TestIntrinsic.R(1.0).theta == 1.0
+
+end
diff --git a/test/qasm.jl b/test/qasm.jl
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1a03550
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/qasm.jl
@@ -0,0 +1,167 @@
+using YaoHIR
+using YaoHIR.IntrinsicOperation
+using OpenQASM
+
+@testset "convert qasm" begin
+
+  bir = BlockIR("""
+  OPENQASM 2.0;
+  include "qelib1.inc";
+  qreg q0[3];
+  creg c0[2];
+  h q0[0];
+  h q0[1];
+  x q0[2];
+  h q0[2];
+  CX q0[0], q0[2];
+  h q0[0];
+  measure q0[0] -> c0[0];
+  CX q0[1], q0[2];
+  h q0[1];
+  measure q0[1] -> c0[1];
+  """)
+
+  @testset "correct parsing" begin
+    bir !== nothing
+  end
+
+  chain = Chain(
+                Gate(H, Locations(1)), 
+                Gate(H, Locations(2)), 
+                Gate(X, Locations(3)),
+                Gate(H, Locations(3)), 
+                Ctrl(Gate(X, Locations(3)), CtrlLocations(1)),
+                Gate(H, Locations(1)), 
+                Ctrl(Gate(X, Locations(3)), CtrlLocations(2)), 
+                Gate(H, Locations(2))
+               )
+
+  @testset "conversion" begin
+    @test chain == bir.circuit
+  end
+
+
+@testset "parse DJ-NAND" begin
+  bv = BlockIR("""
+  OPENQASM 2.0;
+  include "qelib1.inc";
+  qreg q[3];
+  creg c[2];
+  h q[0];
+  h q[1];
+  x q[2];
+  h q[2];
+  x q[2];
+  h q[2];
+  cx q[1],q[2];
+  tdg q[2];
+  cx q[0],q[2];
+  t q[2];
+  cx q[1],q[2];
+  t q[1];
+  tdg q[2];
+  cx q[0],q[2];
+  cx q[0],q[1];
+  t q[0];
+  tdg q[1];
+  cx q[0],q[1];
+  h q[0];
+  h q[1];
+  t q[2];
+  h q[2];
+  measure q[0] -> c[0];
+  measure q[1] -> c[1];
+  """)
+
+
+  bv_re = BlockIR("""
+  OPENQASM 2.0;
+  include "qelib1.inc";
+  qreg q[3];
+  creg c1[1];
+  creg c2[1];
+  h q[1];
+  t q[1];
+  x q[2];
+  h q[2];
+  x q[2];
+  h q[2];
+  t q[2];
+  CX q[1], q[2];
+  tdg q[2];
+  CX q[1], q[2];
+  h q[1];
+  h q[2];
+  h q[2];
+  t q[2];
+  h q[0];
+  t q[0];
+  CX q[0], q[2];
+  tdg q[2];
+  CX q[0], q[2];
+  CX q[1], q[0];
+  tdg q[0];
+  tdg q[2];
+  CX q[0], q[2];
+  t q[2];
+  CX q[0], q[2];
+  CX q[1], q[0];
+  h q[0];
+  h q[2];
+  measure q[0] -> c2[0];
+  measure q[1] -> c1[0];""")
+
+  @testset "correct parsing" begin
+    @test bv !== nothing
+  end
+
+  @testset "convert into BlockIR" begin
+    @test bv_re !== nothing
+
+  end
+
+end
+
+  @testset "dj 3" begin
+  dj3 = BlockIR("""
+  OPENQASM 2.0;
+  include "qelib1.inc";
+  
+  qreg q[3];
+  creg c[2];
+  h q[0];
+  h q[1];
+  x q[2];
+  x q[0];
+  x q[1];
+  h q[2];
+  cx q[0],q[2];
+  x q[0];
+  cx q[1],q[2];
+  h q[0];
+  x q[1];
+  h q[1];
+  """)
+
+  chain = Chain(Gate(H, Locations(1)), 
+                Gate(H, Locations(2)), 
+                Gate(X, Locations(3)), 
+                Gate(X, Locations(1)), 
+                Gate(X, Locations(2)), 
+                Gate(H, Locations(3)), 
+                Ctrl(Gate(X, Locations(3)), 
+                CtrlLocations(1)), 
+                Gate(X, Locations(1)), 
+                Ctrl(Gate(X, Locations(3)), 
+                CtrlLocations(2)), 
+                Gate(H, Locations(1)), 
+                Gate(X, Locations(2)), 
+                Gate(H, Locations(2)))
+
+@test dj3.circuit == chain 
+# FIXME should an empty IR print '1 ─     return nothing' ? 
+# print(dj3)
+
+end
+
+end
diff --git a/test/runtests.jl b/test/runtests.jl
index a1c7e2b..f37a452 100644
--- a/test/runtests.jl
+++ b/test/runtests.jl
@@ -4,60 +4,7 @@ using YaoHIR
 using YaoHIR.IntrinsicOperation
 using Test
 
-module TestIntrinsic
-using YaoHIR: @intrinsic
 
-@intrinsic X
-@intrinsic R(theta::T) where {T <: Real}
-@intrinsic SWAP
-
-end
-
-@test YaoHIR.routine_name(TestIntrinsic.X) == :X
-@test YaoHIR.routine_name(TestIntrinsic.R(1.0)) == :R
-@test TestIntrinsic.R(1.0).theta == 1.0
-
-display(X)
-display(Rx(1.0))
-display(YaoHIR.Operation(X, 2.0))
-
-circ = Chain(
-    Gate(X, Locations(1)),
-    Core.SSAValue(1),
-    Ctrl(Gate(Core.SSAValue(1), Locations(3)), CtrlLocations(2))
-)
-
-print(circ)
-
-@test YaoHIR.leaves(circ) == [Gate(X, Locations(1)),
-    Core.SSAValue(1),
-    Ctrl(Gate(Core.SSAValue(1), Locations(3)), CtrlLocations(2))
-]
-
-
-@testset "test match" begin
-    gate = Gate(X, Locations(2))
-
-    @match gate begin
-        Gate(op, locs) => begin
-            @test op == X
-            @test locs == Locations(2)
-        end
-    end
-
-    ctrl = Ctrl(Gate(X, Locations(2)), CtrlLocations(3))
-
-    @match ctrl begin
-        Ctrl(Gate(op, locs), ctrl) => begin
-            @test op == X
-            @test locs == Locations(2)
-            @test ctrl == CtrlLocations(3)
-        end
-    end
-end
-
-@testset "isequal" begin
-    circuit1 = Chain(Gate(H, Locations((1, ))), Gate(H, Locations((1, ))))
-    circuit2 = Chain(Gate(H, Locations((1, ))), Gate(H, Locations((1, ))))
-    @test circuit1 == circuit2
-end
+include("instrinsic.jl")
+include("hir.jl")
+include("qasm.jl")