Iran’s Nuclear Shopping List
What can we learn about Iran’s nuclear program from the items its trying to illegal acquire? That’s the subject of a Wall Street Journal piece today discussing District Attorney Robert Morgenthau’s prosecutions against Iranian Arms procurers. (h/t In From the Cold):
Mr. Morgenthau’s information is corroborated by a staff report for the Foreign Relations Committee, chaired by Democrat John Kerry, which notes that Iran is making nuclear progress on all fronts, and that it “could produce enough weapons-grade material for a bomb within six months.” The committee also notes that “Iran is operating a broad network of front organizations,” and that authorities suspect “some purchases for Iran’s nuclear and missile programs may have come through an elaborate ruse to avoid U.S. financial sanctions on dealing with Iranian banks.”
As we’ve reported, Lloyds bank entered into a deferred prosecution agreement in January with Mr. Morgenthau’s office in which it admitted to a $300 million “stripping” scheme designed to hide the Iranian origin of banking transfers from 2001 to 2004. Several other banks are also in the crosshairs of Mr. Morgenthau and the Justice Department.
All this should put to rest any doubts about the Iranian regime’s purposes and determination. As for what the U.S. should do about it, the committee report insists that “direct engagement” must be a part of American strategy, and so it seems fated to be under the Obama Administration. The least it can do is heed Mr. Morgenthau’s central point about everything he’s learned about Iran’s nuclear progress: “It’s late in the game, and we don’t have a lot of time.”
