Posted on 05/12/2002 6:57:06 PM PDT by Sawdring
WASHINGTON, May 10, 2002 -- (dpa) The U.S. State Department notified Congress Thursday that it plans to slap new penalties on firms from China, Armenia and Moldova for selling weapons technology to Iran.
The action is being taken under the Iran Nonproliferation Act of 2000, and will bar the firms and any named individuals from holding contracts or licenses from U.S. government agencies over the next two years, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said.
"The penalties are specific to the named entities and do not extend to the Armenian, Chinese or Moldovan governments," Boucher said. "Indeed, we appreciate the efforts that Moldova and Armenia in particular have made in nonproliferation."
Boucher would not specify the types of technologies that were allegedly sold to Iranian "entities" - a catchall word that includes firms, individuals or government agencies citing intelligence information. He said the names of the sanctioned entities would be released when the notice of the penalties is published in the Federal Register, the U.S. government's official publication of regulations.
Boucher would not directly comment on China's role in the alleged sales. However, his praise for Armenia and Moldova and the pointed omission of China was a fresh indicator of tensions between Washington and Beijing over Chinese arms sales to Iran.
Similar sanctions were applied in January to two Chinese firms and a Chinese individual for weapons technology sales to Iran. The new penalties will bring to 14 the number of foreign entities sanctioned under the legislation, Boucher said.
The spokesman would not specify what weapons systems or technologies were sold to Iran, except to say that the items were covered on multilateral export control lists. That usually refers to items that can be used to develop ballistic missiles or chemical, nuclear or biological weapons.
He also disputed suggestions that the Moldovan and Armenian firms were acting as fronts for Russian arms dealers. "We have no evidence that these entities are acting as fronts for other entities or governments," he said.
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