Israel Matzav: US foils plot to export fighter jet parts to Iran

US foils plot to export fighter jet parts to Iran

The United States has foiled a plot to export F-5 fighter jet engines and parts to Iran to help the Iranians upgrade their depleted air force. Two arms dealers who live in France are behind the plot. One of them, a Belgian national (pictured below), was arrested on Friday in New York. The other, an Iranian national is still at large.

An examination of the past activities of the Belgian national, Jacques Monsieur, shows that he has extensive connections to Iran, and even attempted to obtain uranium for the Islamic Republic in September 1999. While the current charges only relate to jet engine parts, it would not be at all surprising if Monsieur's activities include much more.

Monsieur also has connections to Israel's Mossad, and was one of the arms dealers involved in the Iran-Contra scandal of the 1980's.

The indictment alleges that in February 2009, Monsieur contacted an undercover agent seeking engines for the F-5 (EIF) fighter jet or the C-130 military transport aircraft for export to Iran. Thereafter, Monsieur began regular e-mail contact with the undercover agent regarding requested F-5 engines and parts.

These engines, known as J85-21 models, are replacement engines for the F-5 fighter jet that was sold to Iran by the U.S. before the 1979 Iranian revolution. It is prohibited to export the engines and parts without a license from the U.S. State Department. Additionally, these items may not be exported to Iran without a license from the U.S. Treasury Department due to the U.S. trade embargo on Iran.

The charges stated that in March 2009, Monsieur met with an undercover agent in Paris, where Monsieur again requested engines and parts for the F-5 fighter jet. In May 2009, an undercover agent met with Monsieur in London, where Monsieur introduced Dara Fotouhi as a business partner, and again discussed the illegal export of F-5 fighter jet engines from the U.S. to Iran. During this negotiation, the defendants allegedly asked the undercover agent if he could obtain or use U.S. shipping or export authorization documents that falsely indicated that the end user of the items would be located in Colombia.

In June 2009, Monsieur sent an e-mail to the undercover agent and provided a purchase order for F-5 fighter jet parts from a front company for an organization known as Trast Aero Space, located in Kyrgyzstan. The order requested that the parts be located by the undercover agent and illegally shipped to Iran via Saudi Arabia.

The following month, Monsieur allegedly contacted the undercover agent indicating that about $110,000 had been wired from Dubai to a U.S. bank account as payment for the parts. He also ensured that he would deposit a $300,000 down payment for two F-5 fighter jet engines. In August 2009, Monsieur requested information from the undercover agent about his contact in Colombia for forwarding the aircraft parts from Colombia to Saudi Arabia.

Arms to Iran being shipped via Saudi Arabia? Why would anyone be surprised by that?

Monsieur (pictured) is apparently a well-known arms dealer, who has also tried to buy uranium for the Iranians in the past. (This article is from 2002):

Over a three-month period in 1997, Lissouba's government ordered more than $60 million in arms. A dozen shipments brought helicopters, rockets, missiles and bombs from a handful of countries to Congo-Brazzaville. Executives of the French state-owned company, Elf Aquitaine – which pumped oil from the country and was a longtime player in its various changes in government, often befriending both sides – had arranged a loan backed by the country's future petroleum production to pay for the armaments. Yet Lissouba was forced to flee before the payments could be made, leaving the middleman who had arranged the shipments owed millions of dollars.

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Israel Matzav: US foils plot to export fighter jet parts to Iran