Our Publications
This page contains summaries of the world's effort to enforce international sanctions against Iran by preventing it from buying weapons and the means to make them. The summaries cover prosecutions, interdictions of illicit cargo, and other enforcement actions.
International Enforcement Actions
February 25, 2015
German authorities sentenced four men to punishments ranging from four years in prison to 18 months’ probation for illegally supplying Iran with over one thousand valves for its Arak heavy water reactor. The case began in 2007, when Iranian national Hossein Tanideh contacted Rudolf Mayer, the owner of a German custom fittings company called MIT-...
International Enforcement Actions
February 20, 2015
Pennsylvania businessman Helmut Oertmann pleaded guilty to attempting to ship a horizontal lathe, or “peeler” to Iran via Dubai without obtaining a necessary license from the U.S. Commerce Department. These machines are used, among other things, in the production of high-grade steel for aircraft. Oertmann is the CEO of Hetran, Inc., an...
International Enforcement Actions
December 11, 2014
On November 26, 2014 British businessman Gary Summerskill, also known as Gareth Summerskill, of Cambridgeshire, England, was fined £68,000 to settle charges that he and his company, Delta Pacific Manufacturing Limited, illegally exported alloy valves to Iran. Delta Pacific was also ordered to forfeit its profits from the sales, totaling £1,072,...
International Enforcement Actions
August 20, 2014
In December 2012, a shipment of carbon fiber was seized aboard the Shahraz, a ship en route from China to Bandar Abbas in Iran. The Shahraz was carrying 1,800 bobbins of carbon fiber weighing 7,200 kg and manufactured by the Japan-based company Toray. A U.N. Panel of Experts charged with investigating violations of Security Council resolutions...
International Enforcement Actions
June 15, 2014
On June 13, 2014 Vahid Hosseini, a naturalized American citizen born in Iran, was sentenced to 30 months in prison and two years of supervised release after pleading guilty to charges of money laundering and conspiracy to violate the Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) by...
International Enforcement Actions
June 5, 2014
In November 2012, Spanish Customs raided the headquarters of ONA Electroerosion S.A. because of concerns that the Spanish machine tool manufacturer had smuggled nuclear-useable items to Iran, in violation of international sanctions. Spanish authorities initiated an investigation of the transfers in January 2013, and have reported the case to the...
International Enforcement Actions
May 25, 2014
Israeli citizen Eliyahu Cohen (a.k.a. Eli Cohen) was arrested in Israel on May 12, 2014 on charges of conspiring to export U.S. defense articles without a license. His arrest follows an investigation into a network of entities involved in the illicit export of military parts from the United States. A February 2007 indictment charged Cohen and his...
International Enforcement Actions
March 15, 2014
On March 5, 2014, the Israeli Navy intercepted a ship in the Red Sea that was transporting Iranian arms to the Gaza Strip. The Panamanian-flagged vessel, known as the Klos-C, was carrying 40 M-302 rockets, 120-mm mortar shells, and hundreds of thousands of 7.62 mm bullets. Israeli authorities stated that the M-302 rockets aboard the ship had...
International Enforcement Actions
February 15, 2014
On January 6, 2014, Mark Mason Alexander (also known as Musa Mahmood Ahmed) was sentenced to 18 months in prison for sending waterjet cutting machines to Iran without the required authorization, in violation of the U.S. trade embargo. The machines are used for the precision cutting of materials, including aluminum, glass and steel, and cost...
International Enforcement Actions
January 6, 2014
On December 20, 2013 Nader Modanlo, a U.S. citizen born in Iran, was sentenced to eight years in federal prison and ordered to forfeit $10 million on charges of brokering a deal that helped Iran launch its first satellite, in violation of U.S. sanctions. Five others, all Iranian nationals, were also indicted but remain at large. Modanlo, who...