Although the UAE is still probably the most significant country involved in the transshipment of U.S. origin goods to Iran, the Iranian procurement network is extending to other countries as well. A recent article on SETimes.com noted on expansion of Iranian activity in Turkey and identified two recent cases of concern:

Despite the Turkish government’s commitment to crackdown on these procurement networks, two high profile cases have proven just how difficult these illicit networks are to stop.

Step-SA, a firm established by Iranian nationals operating in Istanbul, was indicted by a grand jury for allegedly procuring dual-use items for Iran’s ballistic missile programme this year.

The indictment followed news that two Turkish companies, Elektronik Kontrol Aletleri and ETI Elektronik, were connected to the Abdul Qadeer Khan’s extensive proliferation network. Khan is known to have supplied critical nuclear technologies to North Korea, Libya and Iran from the mid-1980s until the early 2000s.

And another article in the Tapei Times reports the existence of State Department concerns over shipments by a Taiwanese company of item to Iran by transshipping them through Turkey and Malaysia. The equipment was believed to be destined to Iran for use in its nuclear and ballistic missile program. The United States used the American Institute in Taiwan to request that Taiwan deny license for the exports of these items to Turkey and Malaysia.

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