|
Trending Topics
|
Source: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704869304574595652815802722.html
The Tehran-Caracas Nuclear Axis: New Evidence of a Radioactive Relationship
(Wall Street Journal) Bret Stephens - The most interesting Iranian-Venezuelan venture is a supposed gold mine not far from Angel Falls, in a remote area known as the Roraima Basin. The basin straddles Venezuela's border with neighboring Guyana, where a Canadian company, U308, thinks it has found the "geological look-alike" to Canada's Athabasca Basin, said to be the world's largest resource of uranium. Rodolfo Sanz, Venezuela's minister of basic industries, acknowledged that "Iran is helping us with geophysical aerial probes and geochemical analyses" in its search for uranium. In January 2008, the Bank of International Development opened its doors in Caracas. At the top of its list of directors, all of whom are Iranian, is Tahmasb Mazaheri, former governor of the central bank of Iran. The bank is a subsidiary of the Export Development Bank of Iran, which in October 2008 was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department for providing "financial services to Iran's Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics."