Thursday, September 2, 2010

US authorities have said the prosecution of a man accused of trying to sneak jet parts into Iran through Dubai shows they are determined to stop dangerous weapons getting into “the wrong hands”.

Jacques Monsieur is facing up to five years in prison after pleading guilty to charges of conspiring to export fighter jet engines and parts to Iran.

The US Justice Department said Monsieur entered the plea at a court in Alabama, where he faced counts of smuggling, conspiracy, money laundering and violating weapons trafficking laws and export controls in relation to a US trade embargo on Iran.

US investigators spent years pursuing Belgian Monsieur, alleged to be one of a major illegal arms dealer and nicknamed ‘The Field Marshal’.

In their indictment, federal prosecutors said Monsieur made contact with an undercover FBI agent in February 2009 and said he wanted to buy fighter jet parts for Iran.

He then tried to have the parts imported into Dubai and falsify documents to make it look as if he was going to re-export the parts to South America. In fact he was arranging to send them to Iran.

Investigators also said that Monsieur wired more than dhs350,000 from Dubai to the US as a down payment.

Iran is believed to be trying to purchase parts for F-5 fighter jets it bought from the US before the 1979 revolution.

Federal agents arrested Monsieur after he was lured to New York for business talks.

An Iranian national named in Monsieur’s indictment, Dara Fotouhi, remains at large.

According to statements from Monsieur and documents filed in the case, the two men are experienced arms dealers.

“The guilty plea of Monsieur reflects the government’s commitment to ensuring that critical technologies and military-grade weapons do not fall into the wrong hands,” John Morton, the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement Assistant Secretary, said after the hearing.