by Reuters and Israel Hayom Staff
Confidential report by U.N. panel finds that Iran's methods of deception range from concealing titanium tubes inside steel pipes to using its petrochemical industry as a cover to obtain items for the heavy-water reactor in Arak.
|
The
heavy-water reactor in Arak
|
Photo credit: AFP  |
A confidential new report by a U.N. panel highlights
Iran's methods of evading sanctions -- from concealing titanium tubes inside
steel pipes to using its petrochemical industry as a cover to obtain items for a
heavy-water nuclear reactor.
The latest report by the U.N. Panel of Experts, which
monitors compliance with the Security Council's sanctions regime on Iran, said
Iran's attempts to illicitly procure materials for its disputed nuclear and
missile programs may have slowed down as it pursues talks on a long-term deal
with world powers.
But the experts' report, which reached the Security
Council's Iran sanctions committee days ahead of a new round of talks between
Iran and six world powers in Vienna, said an alternative explanation could be
that Iran had merely learned how to outsmart security and intelligence services
in acquiring sensitive components and materials.
Though Iran insists its nuclear activities are for
peaceful purposes, Western powers and their allies suspect the country of trying
to develop a nuclear weapons capability.
Hamid Babaei, spokesman for Iran's U.N. mission, said:
"Iran's procurement for its peaceful nuclear activities are not illicit. All
Iran has done so far is in compliance with its NPT [Nuclear Non-Proliferation
Treaty] rights and obligations. ... The irony is whatever Iran does in good
faith still tends to be seen with suspicion rather than normal behavior of an
NPT member."
One example of concealment given by the panel's report was
a set of titanium tubes hidden inside a shipment of stainless steel pipes
manufactured in and shipped from China. The pipes were ordered by Ocean Lotka
International Shipping and Forwarding Co. on Valiasr Street in Tehran.
The report, seen by Reuters, includes a photo of 10
titanium tubes snugly fitted inside steel piping. The report provides no details
of the potential nuclear applications of the titanium tubes, noting only that
"the Panel's investigation into this reported incident is ongoing."
The experts recommend that governments exercise greater
vigilance over freight-forwarding firms, which often appear as the ordering
party on shipments of items destined for Iran. While such practices are not
necessarily illegal, the panel says Tehran could use them to conceal final
destinations or uses.
"In three cases inspected under the current mandate, names
of freight forwarders were recorded on shipping documentation in the place of
consignors or consignees," the report said.
"The panel notes that the International Freight Forwarders
Association has issued a notice to its members warning about the increased use
of counterfeit Bills of Lading in connection with shipments to and from Iran."
Petrochemical cover
Another example of deception the experts have focused on
for the past two years is efforts by Iran to obtain German and Indian valves for
its heavy-water reactor at Arak, a plant that has proven to be a major sticking
point in Tehran's nuclear negotiations with the six powers. A case involving
valves is currently under investigation in Germany, the expert panel notes.
That case centers on the procurement of 1,767 valves for
Modern Industries Technique Company -- which has been under U.N. sanctions since
2010 due to its work on the Arak reactor -- from 2007 though 2011. According to
the experts' 2013 report, 1,163 valves appear to have reached the company.
The annual report includes a document related to the
valves that shows how Iran used its legitimate petrochemical industry activities
as a cover for procurement for the Arak project in violation of U.N. sanctions.
The panel says the document "came from the computer of an Iranian national who
was responsible for overseeing the procurement network."
It said German prosecutors gave the document to the
panel.
If the Arak reactor goes online in its current form, it
will yield significant amounts of weapons-grade plutonium, but the document
merely explains how it would produce radioisotopes that could be used in
"radiation processing, radiation therapy, radiography, scanning and tracer
purposes and other peaceful applications of nuclear energy."
The owner of the Arak project, according to the document,
is "Chemical & Petrochemical Company" with "MEC Engineering &
Construction" listed as a consultant.
The United States and its European allies want Iran to
either scrap the project or convert it to a non-threatening light-water reactor.
Tehran has hinted that it would not oppose modifying the plant.
Iran does need valves for its petrochemical industry, for
"which Iran has an established demand," according to the panel's report. But
that makes the job of detecting illicit procurement even more difficult, the
experts add.
"This further complicates efforts to understand which
items may be for prohibited purposes," the panel says, noting that the Arak case
"highlights the issue of Iran's use of a petrochemical company as cover for
procurement."
The experts also cite a January media report on Khatam
al-Anbiya Construction Company, which is on the U.N. blacklist for supporting
Iran's nuclear program, and cites its links to the construction of a uranium
enrichment facility at Fordo that Western powers would like to see shut
down.
The media report, which several Western diplomats said was
supported by intelligence, said the Special Economic Directives Division of
Iran's Supreme National Security Council had issued a directive in 2013 ordering
that Iranian banks and state firms facilitate the creation of new front
companies linked to Khatam al-Anbiya to assist the Revolutionary Guards in
evading U.N. and other sanctions.
"The order, which was issued in April 2013, is reportedly
intended to obscure the relationship of such companies to Khatam al-Anbiya and
make the activities of the company appear innocent," the report said.
One Western diplomat told Reuters that the April 2013 directive
remained in effect well after Iranian President Hassan Rouhani took office in
August.
Reuters and Israel Hayom Staff
Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=17473
Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.
No comments:
Post a Comment