Indictment Says Banned Materials For Atomics Sold to Iran From 2006 and 2008: Bonus, What Obama said about the 2007 NIE

Its almost as if the tyrannical regimes are hell bent on acquiring atomic weapons and the means to deliver them, who would have thought that? At the same time the left has tried to prevent attempts to stop weapons proliferation at the same time as disarming the United States. By the way this pretty much torpedoes the fraudulent 2007 NIE which was used by Democrats to tie President Bush's hands.

According to an indictment unsealed in Manhattan on Tuesday, the Chinese company sold tungsten, high-strength steels and exotic metals to the Defense Industries Organization, an arm of the Iranian military, from 2006 to 2008, often using shell companies to hide the transactions. Both Defense Industries and the Chinese parent company, Limmt Economic and Trade Company, are banned by the Treasury Department from doing business in the United States.

The materials have many uses in long-range missiles and nuclear arms, everything from engine nozzles that can withstand fiery temperatures to centrifuges that can enrich uranium into atomic fuel. The materials can be used for weapons as well as civilian purposes.

Many of the raw materials are specifically banned by the United Nations for sale to Iran, and the Iranian recipient is a recognized leader of the military’s efforts to make advanced arms. The diversity and quantity of the sales are seen as significant, involving thousands of tons of some of the world’s most sensitive raw materials.

Iran’s missile and nuclear programs are a central global worry. Tehran is speeding ahead to enrich uranium in defiance of the U.N. Security Council and recently launched a satellite in what analysts see as an important step toward a long-range missile that can hurl warheads.

More on what they were trading:

He said he would seek Mr Li’s extradition and did not know whether China’s government was aware of the alleged scheme. The Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

At the heart of the case is Mr Li’s company, LIMMT Economic and Trade Company. The administration has banned US groups from dealing with LIMMT since June 2006 on the grounds that it provided support to Iran’s missile programme, which analysts see as one of the three components of nuclear weapons capability, together with building warheads and uranium enrichment.

According to Mr Morgenthau, Mr Li’s front companies acquired the financing to ship large quantities of components to Iran’s missile and nuclear programmes between November 2006 and September 2008.

These included 24,500kg of steel rods, which could be used for both missiles and for centrifuges for enrichment; 15,000kg of specialised aluminium alloy, used for long-range missiles; and tonnes of other substances. Mr Morgenthau’s office said there had been “dozens” of illegal payments to finance the transactions.

Iran’s missile and nuclear programmes and the groups that supply them have been targets for the United Nations Security Council since 2006.

What Obama said about the 2007 NIE:

By reporting that Iran halted its nuclear weapon development program four years ago because of international pressure, the new National Intelligence Estimate makes a compelling case for less saber-rattling and more direct diplomacy. The juxtaposition of this NIE with the president's suggestion of World War III serves as an important reminder of what we learned with the 2002 National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq: members of Congress must carefully read the intelligence before giving the President any justification to use military force.

He also said:

I think Iran continues to be a threat to some of its neighbors in the region. ... But it is absolutely clear that this administration and President Bush continues to not let facts get in the way of his ideology. "

Then there is what Biden said:

"What we learned yesterday from the N.I.E. and what President Bush has said in the past I find extremely troubling. Here in October, President Bush raised the specter of World War III with Iran because, as he said, its pursuit of a nuclear weapon — months after he'd been told by our intelligence community it's likely that Iran had halted its weapons program as far back as 2003.

"And after all we've been through, for this president to knowingly disregard or once again misrepresent intelligence about the issue of war and peace, I find it outrageous. This is exactly what he did — exactly what he did in the run-up to the war in Iraq in consistently exaggerating the intelligence that he had available to him, suggesting that Iraq had W.M.D.; the vice president saying Iraq had reconstituted its nuclear weapons program; and so on...

"It further undermines America's credibility around the world, which is at an all-time low, and it undermines the credibility here at home."

CNN says 118 counts:

NEW YORK (CNN) — A Chinese businessman has been charged with using American banks to facilitate the supply of illegal missile and nuclear technology to the government of Iran, according to the Manhattan district attorney’s office.

Li Fang Wei, general manager for the Chinese company LIMMT, allegedly falsified documents and business records in order to transfer money between the United States and his company from November 2006 to September 2008.

Li is believed to be in China, and U.S. authorities will seek extradition, Manhattan District Attorney Robert M. Morgenthau said.

The 118-count indictment, announced by Morgenthau at a press conference on Tuesday, says that Li’s and the company’s goal was to “use fraud and deception to gain access to the U.S. financial system, to deceive U.S. and international authorities, and to continue the proliferation of banned weapons material to the Iranian military.”