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WASHINGTON - U.S. security and law-enforcement
officials say they have fresh evidence of recent efforts by Iran to evade
sanctions and acquire metals from China used in high-tech weaponry,
including long-range nuclear missiles.
Iran's efforts are detailed in a series of recent emails and letters between
Iranian companies and foreign suppliers seen by The Wall Street Journal.
Business records show one Iranian company, ABAN Commercial & Industrial
Ltd., has contracted through an intermediary for more than 30,000 kilograms
(about 66,000 pounds) of tungsten copper which can be used in missile
guidance systems from Advanced Technology & Materials Co. Ltd. of
Beijing. One March 2008 email between the firms mentions shipping 215
ingots, with more planned.
The United Arab Emirates has informed the U.S. that in September it
intercepted a Chinese shipment headed to Iran of specialized aluminum sheets
that can be used to make ballistic missiles. A month earlier, UAE officials
also intercepted an Iran-bound shipment of titanium sheets that can be used
in long-range missiles, according to a recent letter to the U.S. Commerce
Department from the UAE's Washington ambassador.
Evidence of Iran's efforts to acquire sensitive materials also is emerging
from investigations by state and federal prosecutors in New York into
whether a number of major Western banks illegally handled funds for Iran and
deliberately hid Iranian transactions routed through the U.S. One focus of
the inquiries is the role of Italy, including the Rome branch of Iran's Bank
Sepah and Italy's Banca Intesa Sanpaolo Spa. Banca Intesa said it is
cooperating in the inquiries.
The developments could present President-elect Barack Obama with an early
test in responding to what many Washington security officials now say is a
rapidly growing threat to the region, including U.S. allies Israel and Saudi
Arabia.
All of the high-performance metals Iran has been acquiring also have
industrial uses such as commercial aviation and manufacturing, making it
difficult for intelligence agencies to be absolutely certain how the
materials are being used. "We can't say we know it would, or would not, be
used for military purposes," said proliferation expert Gary Milholland of
the nonprofit Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control, noting that broad
economic sanctions on Tehran led by the U.S. mean Iran has to go to unusual
lengths to find high-grade materials for industrial use as well as weapons.
Still, he added, "There doesn't seem to be any real doubt or debate whether
Iran is going for the bomb or whether Iran is using front companies to
import things. Everyone agrees on that around the world."
Iran developed the ground-to-ground Sajil missile, which it test fired late
last year despite international sanctions designed to slow the nation's
weapons programs.
Officials at the International Atomic Energy Agency said they believe Iran
could have enough fissile material for an atomic weapon sometime this year,
though it would need to be further processed into weapons-grade uranium.
That assessment was echoed Thursday by Central Intelligence Agency Director
Michael V. Hayden. U.S. and European governments have grown increasingly
alarmed in recent months at the speed they believe Iran is developing
ballistic-missile and nuclear capabilities. Last year the United Nations
Security Council, which includes China, formally imposed sanctions on Iran's
military and most of its banks for nuclear proliferation activities.
A spokesman for Iran at its U.N. mission in New York declined to comment.
China "has been strictly implementing" U.N. proliferation sanctions on Iran,
said a spokesman for the Chinese foreign ministry in Beijing. The export of
restricted items such as high-grade metals, which include specialized
aluminum and titanium, is prohibited, he added.
The patchwork of proliferation agreements don't cover certain materials.
Sales to Iran of a powdered form of tungsten copper are prohibited by a
nonproliferation accord China has agreed to adhere to, but documents about
Iran's tungsten copper purchases refer to ingots, which aren't banned in the
agreement though they can be used to make missiles. High-grade tungsten
copper alloy withstands ultrahigh temperatures and thus can be used in the
fins of long-range missiles to greatly enhance their accuracy, according to
proliferation experts.
George Perkovich of the pro-disarmament Carnegie Endowment for International
Peace said use of the ingots may be an attempt to legally circumvent the
restrictions. Chinese merchants, he said, "take a legalistic approach to
whether it is prohibited under the treaties," while on the Iranian side, "if
there's a problem where somebody's not supposed to sell them stuff, their
view is, that's the sellers' problem.' "
Because of economic sanctions and the small size of Iranian banks, the banks
have long relied on big European multinational banks to finance their
international trade and wire transfers. Many of those transfers flowed
through New York City.
Documents detailing Iran's metals acquisition efforts are being reviewed by
U.S. law-enforcement and intelligence officials, people involved in the
matter said. Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau said he is
conducting a broad inquiry into illegal transactions by Iran. Last week,
Lloyds TSB of London agreed to pay $350 million to settle U.S.
sanctions-busting charges with Mr. Morgenthau's office and the Justice
Department. The bank admitted it violated U.S. law but said the practice has
ceased.
"There are nine other banks that we think were doing this," said Mr.
Morgenthau in an interview, including Barclays PLC of the U.K. A Barclays
spokesman had no comment beyond a prior disclosure confirming the inquiry.
Other banks under scrutiny in the probe include Credit Suisse and Deutsche
Bank, people with knowledge of the inquiries said. Credit Suisse "is
cooperating with the New York County District Attorney's Office, the U.S.
Department of Justice and other governmental authorities," the bank said in
a statement. A Deutsche Bank spokesman declined to comment.
ABAN Commercial & Industrial Ltd. had accounts at the Rome branch of Iran's
government-owned Bank Sepah, records show. Bank Sepah has longstanding ties
to Banca Intesa, although no evidence has surfaced to date showing that
Banca Intesa facilitated illegal acquisitions of sensitive materials by ABAN,
people with knowledge of the matter said.
ABAN is run by two top officials of Iran's Aviation Industries Organization,
the documents show. That agency is already under U.S. and U.N. sanctions.
Efforts to contact the firm by phone and fax for comment were unsuccessful.
An Oct. 14, 2007, invoice says ABAN contracted for 30,900 kilograms of
tungsten copper alloy from a firm in China in exchange for €2.1 million
($2.8 million). Additional orders were made in 2008, according to a March
27, 2008, email to ABAN from Advanced Technology & Materials Co. "I was very
happy talking to you on the phone," an AT&M executive told an executive at
ABAN in the email. "By now we had sent 215 pieces" of tungsten copper, he
added.
ABAN didn't respond to requests for comment. Dan Hong, a lawyer for AT&M,
said in an email that AT&M received warnings several months ago of
allegations "that we have business dealings with Iran." But he said the firm
has never heard of ABAN. "AT&M never signed any contracts with and exported
to Iran" the specialized metal, he added. "We checked our business records
carefully."
Records show AT&M supplied the tungsten copper to an intermediary firm
called Liaoning Industry & Trade Co. Ltd. That firm couldn't be reached for
comment.
Another document reviewed by the Journal is a Jan. 10, 2007, message from an
executive at a Chinese metals company to Shahid Sayyadi Shirazi Industries
of Iran, regarding the impact of U.S. banking sanctions on payment for a
shipment of unknown material. Marked "Top Urgent!" the letter observes that
the payment was arranged through Bank Sepah.
The Chinese executives "are worrying the payment may be blocked by USA or UK
government through their bank/treasury system," states the letter, from an
executive other business records show had shipped tungsten copper to Iran.
"You are kindly required to consider the matter and check carefully and
seriously with Bank Sepah if the payment can be effected safely under the
current situation."
Bank Sepah has denied financing illicit weapons programs. Shahid Sayyad
Shirazi Industries is part of Iran's Ammunition Industries Group, according
to the Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control, and has been under U.N.
sanctions since March 24, 2007. Efforts to contact the firm for comment were
unsuccessful.
By GLENN R. SIMPSON and JAY SOLOMON
Sabrina Cohen and Siobhan Gorman contributed to this article.
Wall Street Journal Online
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123206759616688285.html
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