On September 11, 2008 the U.S. Justice Department unsealed an indictment alleging that eight individuals and eight corporations violated the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and the United States Iran Embargo by illegally shipping U.S. manufactured products to prohibited Iranian entities. The indictment alleges that Ali Akbar Yahya, an Iranian national and naturalized British Citizen, illegally exported “120 field-programmable gate arrays, more than 5000 integrated circuits of varying types, approximately 345 Global Positioning Systems (GPS), 12,000 Microchip brand micro-controllers, and a Field Communicator.” All of these items are dual-use and could be used to construct improvised explosive devices (IED’s). American officials allege that the same type of items have been found in IED’s in Iraq and Afghanistan and have been traced back to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps.
Source: / nti /