via Lethal Technology Making Way From U.S. to Iran Via Front Companies – washingtonpost.com.
Iran is reportedly using front companies to order bomb parts from the U.S. and then, reportedly, smuggling them into Iraq.
The ruse [use of innocuous third party front companies] succeeded in delivering nine sensors called inclinometers to Iran, the first of several such shipments that year and the latest example of what U.S. officials and weapons experts describe as Iran’s skillful flouting of export laws intended to stop lethal technology from reaching the Islamic republic.
…Iran, a veteran of such schemes, appears in the documents to be increasingly adept at using front companies, which pose as schools or private laboratories conducting business through seemingly legitimate Web sites, the Justice Department records show. If discovered — as happened with the Dubai-based Mayrow General Trading in 2006 — the businesses frequently reopen under different names in other locations.
According to the records, Mayrow was the hub of a procurement network that operated from early this decade until about 2006, chiefly in Dubai, which is part of the United Arab Emirates and a close U.S. ally. U.S. intelligence officials have long identified the small Persian Gulf kingdom as a center for shell companies seeking to buy weapons parts and technology for countries that cannot import them legally. Since 2006, Dubai has moved to close Mayrow and toughen export regulations.
Typical Iranian IED
Dubai? Where have I heard that name mentioned with trade or trafficking or something before? Oh yea! It was back in 2006 when a company called Dubai Ports World tried to acquire six, no wait, twenty-two American ports. As I remember, good-ole George W. Bush and his neo-nut-job friends were all for the idea. Bush said that denying the deal would “send the wrong message” to Middle Eastern companies. I also remember that Bush and Co. tried to pass this off as a private business venture, then it was discovered that Dubai Ports World was owned by the government of Dubai, namely Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, who is also the prime minister of the UAE (United Arab Emirates).
Trafficking the bomb parts through Dubai was mostly halted in 2006, but not soon enough to save countless U.S. and civilian lives in Iraq.
All the items were shipped from Dubai to Iran, where most appear to have been distributed among several manufacturers of IEDs. These bombs account for the majority of U.S. troop casualties in Iraq, as well as the deaths of thousands of civilians, police and troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Examinations of unexploded bombs have confirmed the presence of circuit boards, timers and other parts of U.S. origin, federal officials confirm.
The article goes on to say that the operation was shifted to companies in Malaysia after extensive trade restrictions were placed on the Dubai-based Mayrow General Trading, hub for this illicit activity.
By 2007, the Dubai-based operation had been almost entirely replaced by the Malaysian networks, the ISIS study found. Yet, while perhaps less conspicuous than before, the Dubai network probably continues to exist, though in a different form. Typically, the new front companies will not be discovered until long after crucial technology has left American shores aboard ships ultimately bound for Iran, Albright said. [David Albright, president of the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS)]
The Dubai network is probably still happening. Illegal arms trading has been going on under the nose of, and with approval from, American authorities ever since….well….Ronald Reagan. Just as an aside note, remember how we all wanted the new Bush administration to prosecute Reagan for war crimes? It’s de ja vu all over again.
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