Iran conducted an unsuccessful test of a version of the North Korean BM-25 Musudan ballistic missile on the evening of July 11-12, according to intelligence sources. The test, which failed when the missile exploded shortly after liftoff, was conducted near Saman, a site where Iran has conducted missile tests in the past. The effort was at least the fourth time Iran has conducted a missile test since concluding the nuclear agreement in July 2015. The BM-25 missile has a maximum range of about 2,500 miles.
News Briefs
July 11, 2016
Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi confirmed that Iran had completed the sale of 32 tons of heavy water to the United States, in a deal worth an estimated $8.6 million. The U.S. Department of Energy previously announced the deal in April. Aragchi also said that Iran is currently in negotiations with Russia over the sale of an additional 44 tons of heavy water.
-- Tasnim News Agency
July 9, 2016
Iranian procurement agents sought to obtain technology to advance its chemical, biological, nuclear, and missile programs from Germany, according to German intelligence data and reports. Eight of the 16 German states reported Iranian attempts at illicit procurement in their 2015 intelligence reports. Iranian agents focused their efforts on industrialized west German states that host advanced engineering and technology companies.
-- Jerusalem Post
June 24, 2016
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an international body that monitors money laundering, kept Iran on its blacklist of high-risk countries but suspended some of its restrictions on Iran for one year. The move came in response to Iran's pledge to adopt a plan to address deficiencies in its anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing policies. If Iran fails to demonstrate progress on these issues at the end of one year, FAFT said it will reimpose the restrictions.
-- Wall Street Journal
June 23, 2016
Boeing Co. plans to sell 80 airplanes directly to Iran Air in a deal worth up to $17.6 billion, the U.S. firm disclosed in a letter to two U.S. lawmakers. The proposed sale includes: four Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental jumbo jets; 40 737 Max jets; 15 long-range 777-300ER jets; and 15 future-generation 777-9X aircraft. Boeing would also help Iran Air lease an additional 29 new Boeing 737s. The agreement has not been finalized and requires the approval of the U.S. government.
-- Wall Street Journal
June 19, 2016
The Obama administration has found that traces of man-made uranium discovered at the Parchin military base in Iran by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in 2015 were consistent with evidence linking the site to Iran's past nuclear weapons program. Administration officials said that the finding did not change the conclusion of the U.S. intelligence community that Iran had halted its nuclear weapon development efforts in 2003. The two particles of uranium were discovered during an IAEA inspection of the military site last year--a visit that Iranian officials said would not be repeated.
-- Wall Street Journal
June 15, 2016
Iran has begun reintegrating its economy with the international banking system by developing ties with smaller foreign banks that have little or no business with the United States and therefore minimal exposure to potential U.S. sanctions. According to Iran's central bank, Iranian banks have recently initiated relationships with 200 small and medium-sized international banks. These 200 banks include Europaeisch-Iranische Handelsbank AG--a German-based bank that is majority-owned by Iranian interests--and two Italian banks, Mediobanca and Banca Popolare di Sondrio. Larger global banks are reportedly remaining on the sidelines due to perceived legal risks.
-- Reuters
June 14, 2016
Erdal Kuyumcu, CEO of New York-based Global Metallurgy LLC, pleaded guilty in a New York court to one count of conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. Kuyumcu conspired to obtain and export over 1,000 pounds of a metallic powder composed of cobalt and nickel from the United States to Iran without a required license from the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control. Kuyumcu, 44, and his co-conspirators arranged to ship the metallic powder to Turkey to conceal the identity of the Iranian end-user. The powder has applications in nuclear technology, missile production, and aerospace. Kuyumcu faces a sentence of up to 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine.
-- Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs
June 3, 2016
Yukiya Amano, the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said in an interviiew that Iran appears to be complying with the nuclear agreement reached with six world powers in July 2015. Amano stated, though, that his Agency's inspectors are stretched thin by the task of verifying Iran's compliance with the accord and that the IAEA is still in the process of building up the capacity to monitor dozens of nuclear-related facilities. Amano also said that the IAEA's recent reports on Iran are less detailed than those issued before the nuclear agreement because of new rules imposed by the deal. He added that the Agency does not view Iran's denials of past nuclear weapons-related experiments as credible.
-- Washington Post
Canadian-Iranian Citizen Sentenced To Three Years In Prison For Conspiring To Violate Iran Sanctions
May 23, 2016
Ali Reza Parsa, a Canadian-Iranian dual citizen and resident of Canada, was sentenced to three years in federal prison for procuring dual-use electronic components for Iranian companies in violation of U.S. sanctions. Between 2009 and 2015, Parsa conspired to obtain U.S.-made high-tech electronic components with both commerical and military uses for transshipment to Iran and other countries on behalf of clients of his Iranian procurement company. Parsa used his Canadian company, Metal PM, to purchase components from U.S. suppliers and then transshipped the goods from Canada or the United Arab Emirates to Iran and other locations, falsifying the identity of the end-users in the transactions. The goods included cryogenic accelerators, which have applications related to ballistic missile propellants and liquid-fuel rocket engines.
-- U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York