ABOVE: Coke and Fanta in Iran

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A fascinating Associated Press article published today reports the results of an FOIA request the wire service made for information relating to U.S. exports to Iran. According to the information obtained by the AP, U.S. exports have grown more than ten-fold during the last seven years of the Bush administration, notwithstanding U.S. concerns about nuclear proliferation activities by Iran. The largest export: cigarettes. Almost $158 million dollars worth of cigarettes. That’s a lot of lung cancer and heart disease. (Full disclosure: as a former smoker, I tend to be a rabidly anti-smoking.)

Most surprisingly, the figures given to the AP reveal military exports to Iran, including $106,635 in military rifles and $8,760 in rifle parts and other accessories. Adam Szubin, speaking for the Office of Foreign Assets Control, argued that it was unlikely that these exports actually occurred and cited the possibility that shipping documents listed these codes erroneously or that shippers may have confused Iran and Iraq when filling out these documents. Some support for this can be found in government data saying that the U.S. exported $13,000 in “aircraft launching gear and/or deck arrestors” to Iran. As far as anyone knows Iran doesn’t have any aircraft carriers Still, even if these were mistakes by the shippers, one has to wonder why someone at Customs didn’t catch these mistakes.

Agents of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) raided the Washington state facilities of Aerospace Manufacturing Technologies, Inc., and walked away with thirty-two workers that ICE alleges were illegal immigrants working at the facility. Those workers are now in ICE custody in Tacoma, Washington, and are being processed for deportation.

According to the article reporting the raid, the ICE action was part of its “Worksite Enforcement” initiative. This initiative, which has its own enforcement unit, targets critical infrastructure and sensitive sites. AMT manufactures parts for civilian and military aircraft and is registered with the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls.

Assuming that the workers are ultimately determined to be illegal and undocumented aliens, AMT might be expecting, sooner rather than later, a visit from the enforcement staff of DDTC. After all, if there were thirty-two foreigners working in a facility that manufactures military aircraft parts, there will certainly be a reasonable suspicion that AMT may have transferred technical data on these military parts if, by no other reason, allowing them to see certain of the military parts. Exports under section 120.17 of the International Traffic in Arms Regulations includes “visual disclosure.”

A major topic of discussion in the deemed export area has been the possible ramifications of having legal and or illegal foreign workers on cleaning crews and in IT departments. There hasn’t been real discussion of illegal foreign workers actually involved on production crews because, I suppose, it was thought that this wasn’t a very likely possibility. Until now.