Saudi-led coalition forces announced on September 30 the seizure of an Iranian fishing boat carrying weapons bound for Houthi militias in Yemen. The coalition said the boat contained 18 anti-armored Concourse shells, 54 anti-tank shells, shell-battery kits, firing guidance systems, launchers, and binocular batteries. Fourteen Iranian sailors were also detained on the boat, which was seized off the coast of southern Oman.
News Briefs
September 21, 2015
International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Yukiya Amano confirmed that Iran had submitted environmental samples from Parchin, a military base outside of Tehran that is a suspected site of nuclear weapons experimentation. The samples were collected by Iranians under IAEA monitoring by video and still cameras and GPS tracking. After the samples were taken, IAEA officials visited the Parchin site on September 20 and noted indications of recent renovation work.
-- New York Times
August 12, 2015
Switzerland announced that it is officially lifting sanctions against Iran, becoming the first country to remove its sanctions since the international agreement on Iran's nuclear program was reached on July 14. The Swiss sanctions included a ban on precious metal transactions with Iranian state bodies and the requirement to report trade in Iranian petrochemical products. Swiss companies had also been required to report the transport of Iranian crude oil and petroleum products. These sanctions had been suspended since January 2014.
-- Bloomberg
June 24, 2015
Iran's Guardian Council, a constitutional body that reviews all laws passed by the Iranian parliament, ratified legislation that bans international access to Iranian military sites and scientists. The legislation, which permits conventional inspections of declared nuclear sites in Iran, is now binding law.
-- Associated Press via washingtonpost.com
May 29, 2015
AAG Makina, a Turkish equipment manufacturer, settled one charge of aiding an unauthorized export to Iran with the Bureau of Industry and Security on March 20, 2015. In October 2011, Satco Corporation, a Canadian company, ordered over $47,334 worth of valve parts and a pressure transmitter, which were shipped to AAG Makina in Istanbul from a U.S. supplier. AAG Makina subsequently shipped the items to two Iranian petrochemical companies without authorization from U.S. authorities. AAG Makina employee Murat Peker along with Saeed Talebi worked to facilitate the transfers. The Turkish company agreed to pay a civil penalty of $23,000.
-- The Export Practitioner
May 29, 2015
Two Dallas businessmen, Borna ("Brad") Faizy and Touraj Ghavidel (aka "Brent Dell"), were sentenced to two years' probation and $75,000 forfeiture for making false statements to federal agents about the illegal export of computer equipment from the United States to Iran. The two defendants and their company, Signal Microsystems in Addison, Texas, also agreed to a 10-year export denial order. Between 2009 and 2011, the business exported over 1,000 export-controlled computers valued at $1,015,757 from the United States to Iran via Dubai, the United Arab Emirates.
-- The Export Practitioner
May 14, 2015
The U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved legislation on May 14 allowing Congress to review any potential nuclear agreement with Iran, sending the bill to the White House. The bill, which also passed the Senate by a veto-proof margin, creates a 30-day review period for Congress. If both houses of Congress disapprove of the nuclear agreement and then override the President's veto, the President would not be permitted to exercise his authority to waive sanctions on Iran. Otherwise, the President would be allowed to waive sanctions at the end of the congressional review period.
-- The Washington Post
May 13, 2015
The Czech Republic blocked an attempted purchase by Iran in January of $61 million worth of compressors, which can be used in centrifuge cascades for uranium enrichment. According to a draft of the United Nations Security Council's Panel of Experts report, seen by Reuters, Iran attempted to buy the compressors from the U.S.-owned company Howden CKD Compressors based in Prague. After false documentation intended to bypass export controls raised suspicions, Czech authorities blocked the transaction.
-- Reuters
May 11, 2015
Iran's Mahan Air has acquired nine large commercial aircraft worth over $300 million in defiance of international sanctions. Mahan Air, which has been sanctioned by the United States and European Union for its ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), is suspected of using Iraq's Al-Naser Airlines as a front to buy the aircraft from Europe. The European companies involved were apparently unaware of the final destination of the airplanes. The U.S. Treasury Department has implicated Mahan Air in sending advisers and weapons to Syria and Yemen on behalf of the IRGC's Qod's Force. The nine aircraft acquired are used commercial jets manufactured between 2001 and 2009: eight Airbus A340s and one Airbus A320.
-- Financial Times
April 27, 2015
Arash Ghahreman, a naturalized U.S. citizen of Iranian origin, was convicted on April 23, 2015 of seven counts related to a scheme to purchase marine navigation equipment and military electronic equipment for export to Iran. Ghahreman acted as an agent of an Iranian procurement network, which used a front company in Dubai, TIG Marine Engineering Services, to acquire U.S. goods for illegal transshipment to, and end-use in, Iran. A co-defendant, Koorush Taherkhani, an Iranian national who was the managing director of the front company, remains a fugitive.
-- U.S. Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs