:

NUCLEAR, BIOLOGICAL AND CHEMICAL WEAPONS

May 31, 2006: A Turkish government investigation uncovered Iranian firms, located in Turkey, that imported components needed for Iran's nuclear program, and then illegally shipped them on to Iran. The equipment was imported into Turkey under the pretense that it was to be used in Turkey. The Iranian companies also imported guided missile components, and smuggled them across the border to Iran as well. This sort of thing has been common in Europe for decades, and has been earlier used by Iraq, and other countries barred from importing certain military and industrial equipment from European nations. The fake companies use forged documents, and sometimes professional smugglers, to get the illegal items out of Europe and on to their real destination. A lot of this equipment, and incriminating documents, was found in Iraq after the 2003 invasion. This led to a number of investigations in Europe, and prosecutions for illegal exporting.