By IANS,
Toronto : A Canadian of Iranian origin has been arrested for trying to send nuclear technology to Iran, police said here Friday.
The technology could have been used by Tehran to enrich uranium to weapons grade, police added.
Mahmoud Yadegari, 35, has been charged with bringing ‘pressure transducers’ from the US into Canada and then trying to illegally send them to Iran via Dubai.
Iran, which is defying international pressure to acquire nuclear weapons, has been under UN sanctions for the past three years.
Addressing a new conference, a Royal Canadian Mounted Police spokesman said though “the declared point of destination was Dubai, United Arab Emirates, however we have evidence to support the fact its ultimate destination was Iran.” The man has also been charged with violating a UN resolution on sanctions against Iran.
Yadegari, who is a Toronto-based businessman, had reportedly purchased two ‘pressure transducers’ in Boston for $1,100 each and imported them into Canada by truck.
Teheran paid him “a significant amount” to procure the devices, police said. Since ‘pressure transducers’ are a controlled item in the US, their sales and exported are strictly monitored.
Accordingly, when Yadegari imported the technology into Canada, the US authorities informed their Canadian counterparts about its movement. “With this type of technology, it is clearly specified because it is a controlled item that you have to show where it is going and who is going to be using it,” police said.
The charges have been laid after three months of joint investigation by the federal Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), the Canada Border Services Agency, the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, and US Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Yadegari, who came to Canada in the late 1990s, appeared in court Friday to face charges of violating the Customs Act and Export Import Permits Act.