Washington Levies Sanctions for WMD

Washington Levies Sanctions for WMD-Related Transfers to Iran
Published on Arms Control Association (https://www.armscontrol.org)
Washington Levies Sanctions for WMD-Related Transfers to
Iran
Arms Control Today
Alex Wagner
The Bush administration imposed sanctions on 12 Chinese, Moldavian, and Armenian firms and
individuals May 9 for transferring items to Iran that could assist Tehran with missile development or
the production of chemical or biological weapons.
The administration levied the sanctions under the Iran Nonproliferation Act of 2000, which mandates
penalties for entities that transfer to Iran equipment and technology controlled under multilateral
export control regimes. These informal arrangements include the Australia Group and the Missile
Technology Control Regime, which seek to coordinate member states’ policies on chemical and
biological weapons-related and missile-related exports, respectively.
The sanctions, which are effective for two years, specifically bar the U.S. government from providing
assistance to or engaging in business with any of the sanctioned entities, and they effectively
prevent U.S. companies from doing so. Several of the entities are already under U.S. sanctions, but
at a May 16 press conference State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said that imposing
further penalties served to extend the time the entities remain under sanctions.
Little information about the transfers that triggered the sanctions is publicly available. According to a
U.S. official, the State Department is “not in a position to describe the transfers or the roles of the
entities in them.”
However, according to intelligence officials cited in a May 20 Washington Times article, some of the
transfers by Chinese entities involved glass-lined equipment, which could be used while developing
chemical weapons. The report also cited officials claiming that other Chinese entities were
sanctioned for selling cruise missile components to Iran.
Of the eight penalized Chinese entities, Liyang Chemical Equipment Company, China National
Machinery and Electric Equipment Import and Export Company, and Chinese citizen Q. C. Chen were
sanctioned in January for transfers controlled by the Australia Group. At that time, the State
Department said Chen had provided assistance to Iran’s chemical weapons program. (See ACT,
March 2002.)
The administration is also sanctioning Zibo Chemical Equipment Plant, most likely for chemical
weapon-related transfers; Wha Cheong Tai Company; China Shipbuilding Trading Company; China
National Aero-Technology Import and Export Corporation; and China Precision Machinery
Import/Export Corporation, which was sanctioned in June 1991 for transferring M-11 short-range
missiles to Pakistan.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry denounced the U.S. sanctions as “unreasonable” and emphasized
Beijing’s strict adherence to its international export control obligations.
Although Chinese entities have been extensively penalized in the past for transfers of weapons of
mass destruction-related technology to the Middle East, the new measures mark the first time that
Moldavian and Armenian entities have been sanctioned.
A May 9 Reuters report quoted a senior administration official suggesting that the Armenian and
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Washington Levies Sanctions for WMD-Related Transfers to Iran
Published on Arms Control Association (https://www.armscontrol.org)
Moldavian companies were fronts for Russian entities. However, in an interview another
administration official denied the connection, stating that there is “no evidence that these entities
are acting as fronts for other entities or any government.”
Citing Moldavian government sources, BASA-press, a Moldavian news agency, reported on May 17
that one of the newly sanctioned companies, Cuanta, SA no longer exists. The report described
Cuanta as a military research facility that was once a manufacturer of sophisticated
telecommunications systems for guided missiles. The Bush administration also sanctioned Cuanta’s
former manager, Mikhail Pavlovich Vladov.
Armenia’s Lizen Open Joint Stock Company and Armenian national Armen Sargsian were also
penalized. At a May 18 press conference, Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian confirmed that
Lizen sold certain materials to Iran but said the company did not intend “to assist the weapons of
mass destruction production or research in other countries.” Oskanian said the company was
“probably told at some point that it could lead to problems for them, but, nevertheless, they
apparently chose to go ahead with the sale, and they are now included in that list.”
Posted: June 1, 2002
Source URL: https://www.armscontrol.org/act/2002_06/wmdjune02
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