Iran:  Tehran Attempting to Recruit Iraqi Weapons Scientists

Iran has begun an effort to recruit Iraqi weapons scientists, especially those involved in ballistic missile efforts, the London Sunday Telegraph reported yesterday (see GSN, June 12).

A pro-Iran Iraqi militia group known as the Badr Brigade has been helping Iraqi scientists travel across the border to meet with senior Iranian military and clerical officials in Tehran, according to the Sunday Telegraph.  Iran is especially interested in Iraqi scientists with experience in solid missile propellants, an area where Iraq held an advantage over Iran, the Sunday Telegraph reported.  Iran allegedly wants to develop solid propellant technology to improve its long-range Shahab ballistic missiles (see GSN, Jan. 28).

A senior U.S. Defense Department official said Iran tops the list of countries believed to be recruiting Iraqi missile scientists.  The list also includes Libya, Syria, and possibly North Korea, according to the Sunday Telegraph.  Former senior employees of the Iraqi Military Industrialization Commission have also said that foreign countries are attempting to recruit Iraqi scientists.

“Do not be surprised when some of these people start turning up in Tehran,” said Brig. Marouf al-Chalabi, former director general of the commission.  “If the Americans do not find work for MIC’s employees soon, and if they continue to rule out all of the Baathists, then many of our best scientists will leave.  Some want to go to the West, but others will go to Iran,” he said (Philip Sherwell, London Sunday Telegraph, June 15).

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North Korea:  Iran Importing North Korean Missiles By Air

North Korea has begun exporting ballistic missiles to Iran via air — a move triggered by the U.S. interception of a North Korean ship en route to Yemen last year, U.S. and South Korean intelligence sources said yesterday (see GSN, Dec. 16, 2002).

The United States has detected Iranian IL-76 cargo aircraft leaving Pyongyang’s Sunan Airport at least six times since April, intelligence officials said.  Until last year, Iranian aircraft were detected visiting North Korea only about twice a year, an intelligence source said.

The aircraft are believed to have carried disassembled Nodong ballistic missiles, according to the South Korean newspaper JoongAng Daily (Lee Chul-hee, JoongAng Daily, June 16). 

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North Korea:  Japanese Company Provided Additional Equipment in 1994 Export, Sources Say

Five Japanese executives arrested yesterday for selling missile technology to Iran worked for a company that has long been suspected of helping North Korea’s missile program as well (see GSN, June 12).

Japanese authorities believe that Seishin Enterprise Co. exported a jet mill to Pyongyang in 1994.  The mill can be used to manufacture solid rocket fuel, the Daily Yomiuri reported today.

Along with the jet mill, Seishin sent North Korea several additional pieces of equipment that could be used to develop missiles, such as a dryer to quickly dry powdered materials and a mixer to blend powdered materials using centrifugal force, according to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department’s Public Safety Bureau (see GSN, Feb. 6).  The additional equipment was necessary to process ammonium perchlorate into missile fuel after it is ground in the jet mill, sources close to the Metropolitan Police Department said.

Seishin Enterprise will not be prosecuted for its exports of missile-related equipment to North Korea, however, because the statute of limitations for such charges has expired, the Daily Yomiuri reported (Daily Yomiuri, June 13).

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Iran:  Japanese Authorities Arrest Five for Selling Missile Equipment

Japanese authorities today arrested five employees of Seishin Enterprise Co., including the company’s president, for allegedly exporting equipment to Iran that could be used to produce ballistic missiles, according to the Associated Press (see GSN, Feb. 6).

Seishin Enterprise is believed to have sold two industrial grinders, which can be used to produce solid missile fuel, to Iran in 1999 and 2000 without an export license, a Tokyo Metropolitan Police spokesman said.  The export of the grinders is restricted under the Missile Technology Control Regime, police said.  The five Seishin employees could face up to five years in prison if convicted of conspiring to violate Japan’s Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Control Law, a police official said (Associated Press/Kansas City Star, June 12).

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U.S. Response:  New Regulations Ignite Complaints From Model Rocketeers

U.S model-rocket hobbyists are angered over new U.S. homeland security regulations that require a background check and permit to purchase certain types of model engines, which are feared to be attractive to terrorists seeking to build bombs, the Associated Press reported today.

Under the regulations, which took effect last month, anyone purchasing or handling rocket engines that contain more than 2 1/4 ounces of ammonium perchlorate composite propellant are required to first obtain a permit.  Permit applicants must agree to have their storage areas inspected every three years, according to AP.

People have been required to obtain permits for years to transport ammonium perchlorate composite propellant across stateliness, said Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives spokesman Andrew Lluberes.  He added that 90 percent of rocket engines used by model-rocket hobbyists were smaller than those being regulated.

“This is nowhere near the onerous regulation or situation that it’s being painted out to be,” Lluberes said.

Model rocket fans, however, do not believe that the engine propellant would be of much use to potential terrorists, AP reported.

“I can walk down to the local gun store and buy a case of bullets and have immensely more power than one of these rockets,” said Randy Kastl, manager of the Hobby Shop in Dayton, Ohio, which discontinued its line of high-powered rockets because of the new regulations (James Hannah, Associated Press/Philadelphia Inquirer, June 12).

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