Iranian expatriates were recruited to ship U.S. jet parts
Why this is all a huge mess... Iran still retains plenty of F-4's flying and had, I believe 2 full squadrons of F-14's (though without the Phoenix missiles)
WASHINGTON — Iran has been recruiting expatriates in the United States to acquire parts for Teheran's fleet of American-origin fighter-jets, according to a U.S. Justice Dept. investigation.Anyone harboring any doubts about IRGC, and Hizballah forces being HERE in the USA just waiting, probably having arrived over our southern border?Officials said Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has been tracking and identifying Iranian-Americans who could deliver to Teheran parts for such U.S.-origin aircraft as the F-4, F-5 and F-14. The Iranian-Americans were then told how to ship the components to Iran via a third country, usually the United Arab Emirates.
An indictment handed down in U.S. district court in Miami asserted that the shipment of U.S.-origin fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft parts was meant to be delivered to the UAE port of Dubai. From there, the components were to have been shipped to Iran.
"According to the indictment, defendants in Iran sent orders by email to a co-conspirator in Novato, Calif., for specific aircraft parts," the Justice Department said on April 6. "The co-conspirator in California then requested quotes, usually by e-mail, from another co-conspirator in Plantation, Fla., and made arrangements with that co-conspirator in Plantation for the sale and shipment of the parts to one of several defendants in Dubai. From Dubai, the parts were then shipped on to Iran."
"IRGC has already formed teams of Iranians and other nationals to find and deliver aircraft and other vital components to Iran," an official said.
A team of Iranian expatriates that conspired to export military parts to Teheran has already been captured. The team was said to comprise at least 11 people, almost all of them Iranian residents of the United States.The indictment said the Iranian-American team sought to export components from 13 U.S.-origin aircraft. They included the F-5 and F-14 fighters, the AH-1 Cobra attack helicopter, CH-53 heavy-lift helicopter and the UH-1 utility helicopter.
The indictment was announced three days after the arrest of a suspected member of the cell. Baktash Fattahi was detained by federal agents at his apartment in Lancaster, Calif., and officials said he and other suspected team members face between 10 and 20 years in prison.
Officials said the Iranian expatriate network was aided by Iranian fronts in Dubai. They said both Iranian and Indian nationals established the fronts.
Iranian expatriate communities have been established in leading U.S. cities, including Los Angeles, Miami and New York. Many of the expatriates, despite having fled Iran, retain personal and business links to their homeland.
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