Skirting U.S. Sanctions on Iran

"Homeland Security Investigations uses export control statutes to ensure sensitive technologies developed in the United States do not fall into the hands of those that intend to harm Americans or our allies."

"Iran has been subject to international sanctions for more than 40 years and has continuously and furtively tried to obtain items that could be used against U.S. soldiers in conflict or Americans abroad."

Vance Callender, special agent, Security Investigations, U.S. Homeland Security

A security car passes in front of the Natanz nuclear facility 300km south of Tehran [File/Reuters]

 

"The Iranian regime has escalated its nuclear program, further violating the 2015 nuclear deal, to increase pressure on the US and Europe."

"The International Atomic Energy Agency reported that Iran has constructed new underground nuclear infrastructure, where it has begun installing and operating advanced centrifuges in recent weeks. This infrastructure, which is designed to withstand airstrikes, replaces the centrifuge assembly facility allegedly sabotaged in July. "

"Tehran has also accumulated 12 times more low-enriched uranium than permitted by the nuclear deal after beginning to gradually stockpile last year. Iran likely does not seek a nuclear weapon at this time but will use its nuclear progress as a bargaining chip during potential negotiations with the next US administration."

Nicolas Carl, Critical Threats

With the use of subterfuge, lies and masquerades, two Iranian men living in Canada have succeeded in buying and shipping off to Iran "Highly sophisticated" manufacturing and transportation equipment. They managed to ship nine electrical discharge boards, a CPU for a precision fabrication machine, two servo motors and two railroad crankshafts from the United States to Iran, according to authorities.

The two men conspired with another Iranian national; all are accused of international money laundering spanning 11 countries, over a period of two years. Arash Yousefi Jam 32, and Amin Yousefi Jam, 33 both of the Greater Toronto area, conspired with 44-year-old Abdollah Momeni Roustani, living in Iran to skirt international sanctions and to export critical goods to the Islamic Republic of Iran through a plot begun five years ago and which ran for two years, according to a court indictment.

Orders were placed by the two men for precision metal fabrication and railway transportation equip9ment to be accessed through U.S.-based companies, with arrangements made for the acquired items to be shipped to Iran through the United Arab Emirates "to hide the true location and nature of the end users, who were in Iraq", reads the indictment.

The two men were nothing if not persistent in their ongoing efforts to convince various manufacturers in the United States, United Kingdom, Spain, to sell them the items they wanted for the purpose of supplying Iran, skirting sanctions. When they contacted a U.S. company for pricing for nine electrical discharge boards they claimed they were meant for use by the UAE. Sending the price on to their Iran-located contact the response was "God bless you, you really get it at this price."

A request was made to a firm in Britain which asked for the serial number of the machine the parts were meant for. When the serial number was forwarded to the firm as requested, that ended the link, with the firm refusing to do business with the men. Returning to an order placed with the American firm they were alerted from their experience with the U.K. company that providing the real serial number to the British company would result in a refusal.

They enterprisingly found a version of the same machine for sale, and requested its serial number, then used that serial number as their own, providing it to the U.S. company. This roused the suspicion of the Spanish company from whom the U.S. company was sourcing the requested goods since they were familiar with that very serial number as belonging to a different order, so they refused to honour the order. But the U.S. company decided it would work with them and electrical discharge boards were shipped to the UAE, then trans-shipped to Iran.

Next on their list was a central processing unit ordered from the same U.S. company using the fake serial number to acquire the CPU, subsequently paid for and shipped to the UAE then onward to Iran. In the event, the CPU, on receipt, failed to operate as it should have. A Croatian company was next in their crosshairs for railroad crankshafts for which the company referred the two men to a U.S. supplier who in turn emailed the comment: "I hope that this is not for Iran".

An American company agreed to the sale finally, and arrangements made for a shipper to pick them up and ship them off to the UAE, then forward them on to Iran. Arash told the shipper, to "not mention anything about the crossstuffing, only that the shipment is being taken to Dubai, UAE", the indictment outlined the shipment arrived in Iran and payment wired through various countries including Turkey and Uganda.

Arash Yousefi Jam was put out of business when he was arrested on December 23 in the United States, while his brother Amin Youseff Jam now faces an extradition hearing from Canada. 

'Homeland Security Investigations uses export control statutes to ensure sensitive technologies developed in the United States do not fall into the hands of those that intend to harm Americans or our allies,' said Vance Callender, a special agent. Photo by Jason Redmond / AFP