Iran began mass production of the Qadir cruise missile on March 14, during a ceremony attended by Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan. According to Iranian defense officials, the Qadir has a range of 300 km and can be launched from ships and helicopters.
News Briefs
March 8, 2015
Iran's defense minister unveiled a new ground-based cruise missile system at a ceremony in Tehran on March 8. Defense Minister Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan described the new cruise missile, the Soumar, as an indigenously-manufactured system developed by the Aerospace Industries Organization (AIO). Dehqan also announced the delivery of the Qadr and Qiam ballistic missile systems to the IRGC Aerospace Force.
-- Mehr News Agency
February 25, 2015
Mozaffar Khazaee, a former engineer for Pratt & Whitney and other defense contractors, pleaded guilty on February 25 to violating the Arms Export Control Act by attempting to export sensitive information about the U.S. Air Force's F-35 and F-22 fighter jet programs to Iran. Khazaee, a dual U.S.-Iranian citizen, faces up to 20 years in prison. He was arrested at Newark Liberty International Airport on January 9 while attempting to fly to Tehran with stolen documents related to military jet engines in his luggage.
-- Reuters
February 24, 2015
Iran has smuggled in at least $1 billion in recent months, evading U.S. sanctions prohibiting the purchase or acquisition of U.S. bank notes by the government of Iran. According to Western and Iranian sources, the Central Bank of Iran has worked with Iranian entities and front companies to obtain dollars from abroad. After passing through money changers and front companies, cash was hand-carried on flights from Dubai or Turkey, or brought over the border from Iraq. About $500 million in cash was reportedly brought into Iran using traders in Iraq, while two Dubai-based front companies, Sima General Trading Company and Belfast General Trading, were responsible for obtaining another $500 million. Both front companies have been previously sanctioned by the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
-- Reuters
February 23, 2015
Russia has offered to sell Iran its Antey-2500 surface-to-air missile system. The head of Russian state-owned defense firm Rostec, Sergei Chemezov, said Iran is considering the offer to purchase the Antey-2500 after an agreement to buy the S-300 surface-to-air missile system was cancelled by Russia in 2010. The Antey-2500 is made by Russian firm Almaz-Antey. The U.S. government sanctioned Chemezov in April 2014 for his role in Russia's war in Ukraine.
-- Reuters
February 12, 2015
The European Union decided to re-impose sanctions against the National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC) on February 12. NITC, Iran's largest tanker company, had successfully challenged its designation by the E.U. on legal grounds in July 2014, but the E.U. has returned the company to its blacklist.
-- Reuters
February 11, 2015
Iran unveiled its first indigenous tubular centrifuge machines at a ceremony at Pasteur Drug and Vaccine Institute in Tehran on February 10. At the ceremony, Ali Akbar Salehi, head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), announced plans for the production of third generation centrifuges with speeds of 80,000 cycles per minute in 6 to 7 months. Iran has declared that these centrifuges will be used to make biotechnology products.Full story here (via Mehr News Agency).
-- Mehr News Agency
February 10, 2015
The European Union approved new rules governing the sharing of confidential evidence with judges in sanctions cases on February 10. The new rules were adopted in response to a series of successful challenges to E.U. sanctions mounted by blacklisted entities in Iran, Syria, and other countries. These challenges had exploited the reluctance of some member-states to share intelligence information with courts because, under the old rules, the information had to be shared with opposing counsel. The new rules, which govern the E.U.'s General Court, create a set of exceptions to the evidence sharing requirement.
-- Wall Street Journal
February 9, 2015
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has asked banks to increase monitoring of export finance deals after a scheme to exploit U.S. sanctions against Iran was discovered by investigators. Sources say that a group of nine Iranians set up shell companies in India to tap into funds set aside from Iran's oil sales to Asian buyers--funds that can be used for limited purchases under U.S. sanctions law. However, RBI's Enforcement Directorate found that no exports were made following the group's purchases. Investigators uncovered up to $3.2 billion in fraudulent export advances paid out by state-owned UCO Bank in India.Full story here (via Reuters).
-- Reuters
February 5, 2015
A U.S. District Court Judge rejected the $21 million settlement between Fokker Services BV and the United States government over claims that the Dutch aerospace company violated sanctions against Iran. Judge Richard J. Leon called the penalties too lenient and "grossly disproportionate to the gravity of Fokker Services' conduct in a post-9-11-world" in a ruling handed down on February 5. The Department of Justice had alleged that Fokker sold aircraft parts to Iranian military customers, as well as to customers in Burma and Sudan, in violation of U.S. law.
-- Bloomberg