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Illicit Procurement Network Used Firms in China, Portugal, and Turkey to Supply Iran
(Iran Watch-Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control) Mana Mostatabi - A recently unsealed indictment provides details on Iran's use of deceptive practices to procure export-controlled items with military applications from the U.S. and elsewhere. The indictment details an elaborate, multi-year conspiracy directed by Iranian-born Canadian Ghobad Ghasempour, Chinese national Yi Xiong, and Iranian national Reza Rejali, to procure such items for an Iranian firm, with help from co-conspirators in China, Portugal, and Turkey. Ghasempour was sentenced to 42 months in prison on August 20, 2018. Using a network of agents and front companies, the conspirators were able to falsify shipping documents and mislead U.S. manufacturers by claiming that the procured items were intended for end users in Portugal and Turkey. Furthermore, this network enabled the Iranian end users to pay for the items and finance the scheme using Chinese front companies.