Iran Increases Efforts to Obtain U.S. Arms and Technology
Today's Washington Post reports that the Government of Iran has increased its efforts to illegally obtain weapons, technology and spare parts to maintain Iran's U.S. made military aircraft and for its missile and nuclear weapons programs.
The article states that "arms dealers have exported or attempted to export to Iran experimental aircraft; machines used for measuring the strength of steel, which is critical in the development of nuclear weapons; assembly kits for F-14 Tomcat fighter jets; and a range of components used in missile systems and fighter-jet engines."
The article notes that, according to the Department of Homeland Security, that since 2002 there have been 17 major cases involving the illegal shipment of weapons technology to Iran, compared to 15 cases involving China. In addition, since 2000, the U.S. government has commenced 800 export investigations involving Iran.