Iranian missile program lifeline runs through Turkey
Iran's missile industry is being kept alive by a group of Turkish companies that are owned by Iranians (Hat Tip:
Joshua I).
The U.S. Treasury claims Turkish companies Macpar Makina, or Macpar, and Step A.Ş. are cooperating with a multi-million dollar procurement network for Iran’s missile industries, it announced Tuesday on its website.
Led by Milad Jafari, an Iranian national, the network tied to Iran’s Aerospace Industries Organization, or AIO, uses a series of companies in Iran and Turkey to procure metal products, including steel and aluminum alloys for AIO’s subordinates, the Treasury said. Between 2007 and late 2008, the network facilitated transactions valued at more than $7 million for companies subordinate to AIO it said.
“The Jafari network has established itself as a lifeline for Iran’s missile program by providing essential materials and support for AIO,” said Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Stuart Levey. “The Treasury Department will continue to identify and expose channels Iran is using to defy international sanctions, wherever those channels may be located.”
“Milad Jafari runs the procurement network along with his father, Mohammad Javad Jafari, and brother, Mani Jafari. Turkish nationals and key associates of Milad Jafari, Muammer Kuntay Duransoy and Çağrı Duransoy, facilitate transactions on behalf of the network. Milad and Mani Jafari’s mother, Mahin Falsafi, operates the network’s bank accounts at the Export Development Bank of Iran [EDBI], which was designated by Treasury in October 2008 for providing financial services to Iran’s Ministry of Defense of Armed Forces Logistics [MODAFL] and its subordinate entities,” it said.
It sounds like they're keeping it all in the family. What could go wrong?
Labels: Macpar Makina, Milad Jafari, Step A.S., Stuart Levey
Sanctions hurting Iran, but still no change
Shavua tov, a good week to everyone.
State Department Under Secretary for Political Affairs William F. Burns and Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Stuart Levey told the House Foreign Affairs Committee this week that the sanctions that were imposed on Iran are hurting that country's economy, but that hurt has not resulted in any change in Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons.
Burns was joined before the House Foreign Affairs Committee by Stuart Levey, Treasury's Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, who detailed the various sanctions imposed by the U.S. and the United Nations, and his office's efforts to enforce them. Treasury officials have visited 24 countries in recent months to persuade governments and businesses to watch out for possible violations.
As a result, "Iran has dramatically reduced access to financial services from reputable banks, and is finding it increasingly difficult to conduct major transactions in dollars or euros," Levey said. "With great regularity, major companies are announcing that they have curtailed or completely pulled out of business dealings with Iran."
Iran has taken to trying to hide its role "in transactions by removing or stripping their names from transaction documents," Levey said. Oil companies are not investing in new projects in Iran and other contracts have been canceled.
That's contributing to an escalating unemployment rate, especially among people younger than 30 years old. That is helping fuel internal political dissatisfaction and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard – a key target of the sanctions plan – "is taking increasing control over significant portions of the Iranian economy," Levey said.
Who will blink first? Unfortunately, it doesn't look like it's going to be the Iranians.
Labels: Iran sanctions regime, Iranian nuclear program, Stuart Levey, William Burns
US sanctions Iran's shipping lines
On the same day that the announcement was made that the EU will have a 'negotiating session' with Iran next Monday and Tuesday in Geneva, the United States announced that it is sanctioning eight companies that serve as fronts for
Iran's shipping company.
Late Tuesday, the U.S. Treasury Department cited five Iranian corporate officials and 10 businesses as having ties to either Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines or Bank Mellat, which the U.S. had previously blacklisted, alleging they support Iran’s nuclear and military programs.
The companies included a Malaysian-based firm and what the U.S. described as eight front companies for Iran’s state-owned shipping firm. The U.S. also named and described a group of Iranian officials with ties to the entities. United Nations, U.S. and European regulations bar dealings with any company tied to Iran’s nuclear or weapons program.
“As long as Iran uses front companies, cut-outs and other forms of deception to hide its illicit activities, we intend to expose this conduct and thereby counteract Iran’s attempts to evade U.S. and international sanctions,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Stuart Levey said in a news release.
If we can come up with a few more computer worms like Stuxnet, maybe there's a small chance that sanctions could work. But I doubt it. The sanctions are hurting Iran, but that doesn't seem to make Iran more inclined to give up their nuclear program.
Labels: Iran sanctions regime, Iran shipping company, Stuart Levey
Iran's missile industry is being kept alive by a group of Turkish companies that are owned by Iranians (Hat Tip: Joshua I). 
