Paper Says Britain Made Secret Military Shipments to Iran
LONDON — Britain exported tank engines, radar equipment and spare parts for armored cars worth a total of $50 million to Iran, the Observer newspaper said Saturday.
The military hardware, packed in 14 containers listed as electric and engineering equipment on the export license, was shipped from the northern port of Liverpool on Nov. 21, it said.
The shipment included 50 Chieftain tank engines and parts for Scorpion armored cars, the newspaper said.
“Despite government claims that no British military spares have been shipped for 18 months, the Observer has evidence that the trade is being continued with official knowledge, through a series of British middlemen,†it said.
The newspaper said that last month’s sale was agreed upon between the British Defense Ministry and Iranian arms buyers based in London. The Defense Ministry denied any knowledge of military shipments to Iran.
There is no British arms embargo against Iran, which has been at war with Iraq since 1980, but London has maintained that it opposes the sale of lethal or other weapons that could prolong the conflict.
Last week, Britain confirmed that it had granted an export license to the electronics firm Plessey to sell $340 million worth of radar equipment to Iran.
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