Agents say Iran seeking US arms
LOS ANGELES -- The Iranian government has intensified efforts to illegally obtain weapons technology from the United States, contracting with dealers across the country for spare parts to maintain its aging American-made air force planes, its missile forces, and its alleged nuclear weapons program, according to federal law enforcement authorities.
Over the past two years, arms dealers have exported or attempted to export to Iran experimental aircraft; machines used for measuring the strength of steel, which is critical in the development of nuclear weapons; assembly kits for F-14 Tomcat fighter jets; and a range of components used in missile systems and fighter-jet engines.
''Iran's weapons acquisition program is becoming more organized," said Stephen Bogni, acting chief of the Arms and Strategic Technology Investigations Unit of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement. ''They are looking for more varied and sophisticated technology. Night-vision equipment, unmanned aircraft, missile technology," and weapons of mass destruction.
Federal agents say that as tensions increase over Tehran's alleged nuclear weapons program, so does the concern that Iran might strike at US forces and personnel stationed in Iraq and other countries if the United States or its allies take military action against that program. In recent weeks, Tehran has announced new weapons systems, including missiles it claims to be invisible to radar and torpedoes too fast to be avoided, although US experts have questioned Iran's assertions about its capabilities.
The Bush administration says it is committed to a diplomatic solution to address its concerns that Iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons. Iran contends it wants only to generate electricity. But, in recent months, it has flouted UN Security Council demands that it abandon key parts of its program, and, last week, it announced it had successfully enriched uranium.
Calls for comment to the Iranian Mission to the United Nations were not returned.
''Most of the material the Iranians are seeking is aging technology, but it's technology that could still hurt the United States and its allies today," said Serge Duarte, acting special agent-in-charge of Immigration and Customs Enforcement investigations in San Diego. That city and Los Angeles are believed to be the two centers of the illicit Iranian weapons trade.
In the 1960s and '70s, the United States sold some of its most advanced weapons systems to Iran, when it was led by Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. Iran's air force received F-14 Tomcats, F-5 Tigers, F-4 Phantoms, C-130 transport planes, and helicopters manufactured by Bell,
Since that time, businesses with ties to Iran have been on a hunt in the United States for anything that can keep Iran's military machine moving, federal agents said. Since 2002, there have been 17 major cases involving the illegal shipment of weapons technology to Iran, outpacing the 15 cases involving China, the other main culprit seeking US military goods, according to data provided by the Department of Homeland Security. Since 2000, the US government has instituted 800 export investigations involving Iran.
Although arms dealers work nationwide, many of the Iranian cases have connections to Southern California, which remains a center for aeronautics and is home to the biggest concentration of Iranians outside of Tehran.
Federal agents said the main method for obtaining US technology is not through espionage but through simple business deals. ''We're not talking about 007 running around trying to steal these parts," Bogni said. ''We're talking about the Iranian government putting out shopping lists to brokers and greedy businessmen."
Two recent cases illustrate the challenges facing federal agents.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on March 16 arrested Mohammad Fazeli, an American of Iranian descent, after he allegedly tried to export a box of pressure sensors to Iran via the United Arab Emirates. The small sensors, manufactured by
Fazeli was captured as he allegedly sought to mail the package out of the United States.
''It's not illegal to possess these parts. It's only illegal to export them. That's the challenge," said Louis Rodi III, chief of Immigration and Customs Enforcement's national security unit in Los Angeles. ''Arms dealers take possession of the products here and then ship them themselves. So we have to be on them like a glove."
Bogni said many weapons dealers are still not aware of US regulations prohibiting the export of controlled technology. Thus, since fall 2002, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have conducted 12,500 seminars with US weapons manufacturers and exporters.
