Free Republic

Iran is increasingly using Chinese firms to facilitate weapons related smuggling efforts. This is not necessarily with the cooperation of the Chinese government. But there is apparently little risk of getting arrested in China for buying some weapons related items from a European or American firm, and passing it out the back door to Iranian smugglers. Chinese exporters are particularly enthusiastic about selling Iran dual (civilian and military) use items. These can be exported more openly, and later claiming that the Iranians had promised not to use the stuff for military purposes. Many Western nations have become more aggressive in...

Iran recently managed to obtain equipment critical to its uranium enrichment efforts, and which is banned by UN sanctions against the country, through a Chinese company, The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday. According to the report, the hardware – which included valves and vacuum gauges for enrichment centrifuges – was bought by an Iranian research firm which is linked to the country’s atomic energy organization. It was purchased from an intermediary representing a Chinese company - Zheijiang Ouhai Trade Corp. According to the report, news of the purchase reached Western officials after an email detailing the sale was sent to...

An Iranian firm closely linked to Tehran's nuclear program acquired special hardware for enriching uranium, despite sanctions intended to keep such equipment out of Iran, according to officials with knowledge of the matter. In recent weeks, the officials said, an Iranian procurement firm obtained critical valves and vacuum gauges made by a French company that until December was owned by U.S. industrial conglomerate Tyco International. The French and U.S. firms said they knew nothing of the case. Western authorities are still struggling to understand precisely how the valves and gauges in question reached Iran. The International Atomic Energy Agency is...