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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Iran's missile tech suppliers named... sort of |
| 2006-02-09 |
| EFL Two German businessmen, a former Russian military officer and North Korea are among those helping Iran develop missiles that the West fears could one day carry nuclear warheads, diplomats and intelligence officials say. Last month German federal prosecutors formally charged two German citizens with espionage for helping a foreign intelligence agency acquire dual-use "delivery system" technology. The prosecutors announced the charge of espionage last week but did not name the country involved. The two German men have been accused of "having sold a vibration testing facility in 2001 and 2002 on behalf of a foreign military intelligence procurement entity," the prosecutor's office said in a statement posted on its Web site. A German official familiar with the case, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the investigation, said the country involved was Iran. "These missile technology dealers ... appear to have been acting alone and were not part of any organized gang," he said. Recent U.S. intelligence recovered from a stolen laptop computer suggests that Iranian missile experts are trying to develop a missile re-entry vehicle capable of carrying a relatively small nuclear warhead, EU and U.S. officials say. To the annoyance of the United States and European Union, Russia has made it clear that it is willing to sell small-scale defensive missiles to Iran. Late last year, Moscow agreed to sell Iran tactical surface-to-air missiles that could be used to shoot down low-flying aircraft or guided missiles. However, even Russia says it will not sell medium- and long-range missile technology to the Islamic republic. An EU diplomat, citing his country's intelligence, said Iran had purchased 18 disassembled BM-25 mobile missiles with a range of around 2,500 km from North Korea. He was confirming a German newspaper report from December that cited Germany's BND foreign intelligence service. One of the intelligence officials said a former Russian military officer with the first name Viktor had helped Iran get Soviet-made SSN6 missile technology from Russia and North Korea, which Iran could use to improve the accuracy of its newly-bought BM-25s and increase their range to as much as 3,500 km. "The Russian authorities either don't know about him or don't care," the official said, adding that there was no evidence that Moscow approved of Viktor's activities. In December, the United States imposed sanctions on six Chinese, two Indian and one Austrian firm for selling missile or chemical weapons-related supplies to Iran. |
| Posted by:trailing wife |