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From bull semen to bras, Iran still buys American
2008-07-08
WASHINGTON - Nuclear weapons? No way. But there are plenty of items on Iran's shopping list the United States is more than happy to supply: cigarettes, brassieres, bull semen and more. Muzi.com News 10073897-0 (muzi.com)U.S. exports to Iran grew more than tenfold during President Bush's years in office even as he accused it of nuclear ambitions and sponsoring terrorists. America sent more cigarettes to Iran -- at least $158 million worth under Bush -- than any other product. Muzi.com News 10073897-1 (muzi.com) Other surprising shipments during the Bush administration: fur clothing, sculptures, perfume, musical instruments and military apparel. Top states shipping goods to Iran include California, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio and Wisconsin, according to an analysis by The Associated Press of seven years of U.S. government trade data. Muzi.com News 10073897-2 (muzi.com) Despite increasingly tough rhetoric toward Iran, which Bush has called part of an "axis of evil," U.S. trade in a range of goods survives on-again, off-again sanctions originally imposed nearly three decades ago. The rules allow sales of agricultural commodities, medicine and a few other categories of goods. The exemptions are designed to help Iranian families even as the United States pressures Iran's leaders. Muzi.com News 10073897-3 (muzi.com) "I understand that these exports have increased. However, we believe that they are increasing to a segment of the population that we want to reach out to, we want to know and understand that the U.S. government, the U.S. people want to be friends with them, want to work with them to integrate them into the world economy and become partners in the future," Gonzalo Gallegos, a State Department spokesman, said Tuesday when asked by reporters about AP's findings. Muzi.com News 10073897-4 (muzi.com) The government tracks exports to Iran using details from shipping records, but in some cases it's unclear whether anyone pays attention. Muzi.com News 10073897-5 (muzi.com) Sanctions are intended in part to frustrate Iran's efforts to build its military, but the U.S. government's own figures showed at least $148,000 worth of unspecified weapons and other military gear were exported from the United States to Iran during Bush's time in office. That included $106,635 in military rifles and $8,760 in rifle parts and accessories shipped in 2004. Muzi.com News 10073897-6 (muzi.com) The Bush administration looked into those shipments after AP questioned whether the U.S. really approved the export of military rifles to Iran. A review found the rifles and parts actually went to Iraq; the wrong country was entered on the shipping record, Treasury Department spokesman John Rankin said. The government will correct the data, he said. Muzi.com News 10073897-7 (muzi.com) The remaining military gear is likely $33,000 in military apparel shipped to Iran under the humanitarian exemption to the trade sanctions, Rankin said. Muzi.com News 10073897-8 (muzi.com) AP's questions also prompted the government to look into U.S. records showing the export of at least $13,000 in "aircraft launching gear and/or deck arrestors," equipment needed to launch jets from aircraft carriers. Iran's navy is not believed to have carriers. It turned out they went to Italy rather than Iran, and the data is now being corrected, Rankin said. Muzi.com News 10073897-9 (muzi.com) U.S. law enforcement believes Iran is actively trying to acquire U.S. military technology, including aircraft parts that can sell for pennies on the dollar compared with what the Pentagon paid. Last year, federal agents seized four F-14 fighter jets sold to domestic buyers by an officer at Point Mugu Naval Air Station, Calif., for $2,000 to $4,000 each, with proceeds benefiting a squadron recreation fund. When F-14s were new, they cost roughly $38 million each. Muzi.com News 10073897-10 (muzi.com) Bush this year signed legislation prohibiting the Pentagon from selling leftover F-14 parts. The law was prompted by AP reporting that buyers for Iran, China and other countries exploited Pentagon surplus sales to obtain sensitive military equipment that included parts for F-14 "Tomcats" and other aircraft and missile components. Two men were indicted in Florida last week on charges they shipped U.S. military aircraft parts to Iran, including Tomcat and attack-helicopter parts. Muzi.com News 10073897-11 (muzi.com) Iran received at least $620,000 in aircraft parts and $19,600 worth of aircraft during Bush's terms. Iran relies on spare parts from other countries to keep its commercial and military aircraft flying. In some cases, U.S. sanctions allow shipments of aircraft parts for safety upgrades for Iran's commercial passenger jets. Muzi.com News 10073897-12 (muzi.com) Iran is a hot issue in Washington. The House plans a hearing Wednesday on U.S. policy toward Iran, and the Bush administration announced Tuesday it was freezing the U.S. assets of several people and entities accused of helping Iran develop nuclear weapons. Muzi.com News 10073897-13 (muzi.com) But the U.S. government seems uncoordinated on efforts to limit trade with Iran. Muzi.com News 10073897-14 (muzi.com) The Securities and Exchange Commission sought to shine a light on companies active in Iran but stopped after business groups complained. The Treasury Department allowed some companies and individuals suspected of illegal trading with Iran to escape punishment. Yet the Bush administration also has collected millions of dollars in fines from trade-rule violators and pressed Congress without success to pass laws to strengthen enforcement. Muzi.com News 10073897-15 (muzi.com) The fact that the United States sells anything to Iran is news to some. Muzi.com News 10073897-16 (muzi.com) "Until you just told me that about Iran, I'm not sure I knew we did any business with Iran," said Fred Wetherington, a tobacco grower in Hahira, Ga., and chairman of Georgia's tobacco commission. "I thought because of the situation between our two governments, I didn't think we traded with them at all, so I certainly didn't know they were getting any cigarettes." Muzi.com News 10073897-17 (muzi.com) The United States sent Iran $546 million in goods from 2001 through last year, government figures show. It exported roughly $146 million worth last year, compared with $8.3 million in 2001, Bush's first year in office. Even adjusted for inflation, that is more than a tenfold increase. Muzi.com News 10073897-18 (muzi.com) Exports to Iran are a politically loaded but tiny part of U.S. trade. The United States counted more than $1 trillion in world exports last year. The value of U.S. shipments last year to Canada -- America's top trading partner -- was more than 1,000 times the value of shipments to Iran. Muzi.com News 10073897-19 (muzi.com) Top U.S. exports to Iran over Bush's years in office include corn, $68 million; chemical wood pulp, soda or sulfate, $64 million; soybeans, $43 million; medical equipment, $27 million; vitamins, $18 million; bull semen, $12.6 million; and vegetable seeds, $12 million, according to the AP's analysis of government trade data compiled by the World Institute for Strategic Economic Research in Holyoke, Mass. The value of cigarettes sold to Iran was more than twice that of the No. 2 category on the export list, vaccines, serums and blood products, $73 million. Muzi.com News 10073897-20 (muzi.com) Iran is a top customer of Alta Genetics Inc., a Canadian company with an office in Watertown, Wis., that sells bull semen, used to produce healthier, more profitable cattle. "The animals we're working with are genetically superior to those in many parts of the world," said Kevin Muxlow, Alta's global marketing manager. Muzi.com News 10073897-21 (muzi.com) Also getting Bush administration approval for export to Iran were at least $101,000 worth of bras; $175,000 in sculptures; nearly $96,000 worth of cosmetics; $8,900 in perfume; $30,000 in musical instruments and parts; $21,000 in golf carts and/or snowmobiles; $4,000 worth of movie film; and $3,300 in fur clothing. Muzi.com News 10073897-22 (muzi.com) Few people or companies asking U.S. permission to trade with Iran are turned down by the Treasury Department, the lead agency for licensing exports to sanctioned countries. During Bush's terms, the office has received at least 4,523 license applications for Iran exports, issued at least 2,821 licenses and 213 license amendments and denied at least 178, Treasury Department data shows. Muzi.com News 10073897-23 (muzi.com) Neither the Treasury data nor trade data compiled by the Census Bureau identifies exporters or specifies what they shipped. The AP requested those details under the Freedom of Information Act in 2005 and still is waiting for the Treasury Department to provide them. Muzi.com News 10073897-24 (muzi.com) Though some trade with Iran is legal, some businesses prefer that people not know about it. Muzi.com News 10073897-25 (muzi.com) Citing corporate financial reports, the SEC published a list online last year of companies that said they had done business in Iran or four other countries the State Department considers state sponsors of terrorism. The SEC withdrew the list after business groups complained, but it is considering releasing one again. Muzi.com News 10073897-26 (muzi.com) "There's no question that people are looking for that kind of information," SEC spokesman John Nester said. "But under the current disclosure regime, it's beyond most people's abilities and time to slog through every corporate report and find companies that make reference to one of those nations." Muzi.com News 10073897-27 (muzi.com) Business groups oppose publishing such lists. It "could inappropriately label companies with legitimate activities as supporters of terrorism," the European Association of Listed Companies told the commission earlier this year. Muzi.com News 10073897-28 (muzi.com) An AP photographer strolling through shops in Tehran had no problem finding American brands on the shelves. An AP review of corporate SEC filings found dozens of companies that have done business in Iran in recent years or said their products or services may have made it there through other channels. Some are household names: PepsiCo, Tyson Foods, Canon, BP Amoco, Exxon Mobil, GE Healthcare, the Wells Fargo financial services company, Visa, Mastercard and the Cadbury Schweppes candy and beverage maker. Muzi.com News 10073897-29 (muzi.com) Georgia led states in exports to Iran over the past seven years, with cigarettes representing $154 million of the $201 million in goods it exported there. Cigarette shipments to Iran peaked in 2006, apparently from a Brown & Williamson cigarette factory in Macon, Ga. Muzi.com News 10073897-30 (muzi.com) When the plant closed, tobacco shipments to Iran fell dramatically. No U.S. tobacco shipments to Iran were reported for 2007 or the first quarter of this year, the most recent figures available. Muzi.com News 10073897-31 (muzi.com) British American Tobacco began operating in Iran in 2002, producing most of its cigarettes under a contract with the Iranian tobacco monopoly, company spokesman David Betteridge said. B.A.T. shipped Kent cigarettes from the United States to Iran until 2006, he said. Muzi.com News 10073897-32 (muzi.com) The factory in Macon closed after B.A.T.'s Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp. and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Holdings merged their U.S. tobacco and cigarette businesses. B.A.T. said it now makes cigarettes for export to Iran in Turkey. It declined to say how much tobacco the company previously shipped from the U.S. to Iran, but said the U.S. government approved the shipments. Muzi.com News 10073897-33 (muzi.com) The Bush administration's record enforcing export laws is mixed. The Office of Foreign Assets Control let the statute of limitations expire in at least 25 cases involving trade with Iran from 2002 to 2005, according to one internal department audit. The companies involved, disclosed to the AP under the Freedom of Information Act, include Acterna Corp., American Export Lines, Parvizian Masterpieces, Protrade International Corp., Rex of New York, Shinhan Bank, Phoenix Biomedical Corp., World Cargo Alliance and World Fuel Services. Muzi.com News 10073897-34 (muzi.com) Abdi Parvizian of the Parvizian Masterpieces rug gallery in Chevy Chase, Md., said his case was dropped because his business proved everything was imported from Iran legally. He bristled over current congressional proposals to ban imports from Iran, including carpets. Muzi.com News 10073897-35 (muzi.com) "The problem with the rugs is it has nothing to do with the government of Iran," Parvizian said. "This is something that is made by the very unfortunate people in the country, and those people are going to get hurt more than anybody else." Muzi.com News 10073897-36 (muzi.com) World Fuel Services said an employee fueled a ship out of Singapore that turned out to be Iranian-owned, and the U.S. government spotted it from a wire transfer. The company explained the mistake to Treasury with no repercussions, said Kevin Welber, general counsel of the company's marine business. It has since put in place techniques to identify Iranian-owned ships, which Welber said can be difficult because some Iranian ships sail under Cyprus flags. Muzi.com News 10073897-37 (muzi.com) Phoenix Biomedical acknowledged it shipped surgical shunts to Iran without a license. It previously was allowed during the Clinton administration to send them to Iran and sent replacement shunts without a new license, which was required, said Charles Hokanson, who sold Phoenix Biomedical to French-based Vygon and is now chief executive of Vygon USA. He said that was the last business it did with Iran. Muzi.com News 10073897-38 (muzi.com) The other companies did not respond to requests by the AP for explanations. Muzi.com News 10073897-39 (muzi.com)
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