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Source: Reuters -
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US federal agents have arrested a Taiwan passport holder on charges of illegally exporting commodities for Iran's missile programme in violation of US sanctions, authorities in south Florida said on Friday.
Yi-Lan Chen, 40, also known as Kevin Chen, was arrested on Thursday in the US Pacific territory of Guam on a warrant from the Southern District of Florida, the district's US attorney said.
The complaint charges that Chen, in violation of the US embargo against Iran, facilitated the purchase and export of various dual-use goods from the United States to Iran by way of Taiwan and Hong Kong.
The goods included turbine engines and spare parts, sealing compound, glass-to-metal pin seals and circular hermetic connectors that could be used in Iran's military and aerospace industries, US prosecutors said.
"Iran has been designated a state sponsor of terrorism and remains subject to United States, United Nations and European Union economic sanctions and export controls because of its continued involvement in terrorism and its nuclear weapons ambitions," US Attorney for the Southern District of Florida Jeffrey Sloman said in a statement.
"The dual use items allegedly exported in this case could easily be used in missile development and other military components. Such conduct poses a serious threat to our national security," he added.
A recent review of ballistic missile defense released by the Pentagon said Iran had developed and acquired ballistic missiles capable of striking targets from the Middle East to Eastern Europe.
To counter the Iranian threat, the United States has expanded land and sea-based missile defence systems in and around the Gulf, according to US officials.
If convicted, Chen faces a sentence of up to 20 years' imprisonment and possible fines of up to $1.46 million ($US1 million).
Customers in Iran
US authorities said the investigation, which involved a US undercover agent from the Office of Export Enforcement, revealed that Chen's ultimate customers for the dual-use exports listed in the complaint were all in Iran.
According to the complaint, the customers included buyers for Electro SANAM Industries, which is reported by experts on Iran to be a front company for Iran's Aerospace Industries Organisation, a subsidiary of the Iranian Defence Ministry, and has been linked to Iranian ballistic missile programs.
Another customer was the owner of the Noavaran Sooyab Sanat Co in Tehran. That company was founded in 1989 as a division of Jahad Engineering Research Center, one of many names used by the Engineering Research Center for the Construction Crusade (Jihad-e Sazandegi), which had been linked to chemical research and development facilities, the complaint said.
US prosecutors said the customers in Iran sent orders by e-mail to Chen for specific US-manufactured goods. Chen solicited quotes, usually by e-mail, from US businesses and made arrangements for the sale and shipment of the goods to one of several freight forwarders in Hong Kong and Taiwan. From there, the goods were shipped to Iran, prosecutors said.
The complaint cited evidence showing that from early 2007 to the present, Chen facilitated the export of more than 30 shipments of US commodities from the United States to Iran in violation of US export laws.
"All of those shipments involve misleading United States businesses and United States export enforcement agencies," it said.
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