WASHINGTON (AP):
United States exports to Iran - including brassieres, bull semen, cosmetics and possibly even weapons - grew more than tenfold during President George W. Bush's years in office. This despite his acrimonious relationship with Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whose nuclear energy ambitions have caused jitters in the White House.
The US sent more cigarettes to Iran, at least US$158-million worth under Bush, than any other products.
Other surprising shipments to Iran during the Bush administration: fur clothing, sculptures, perfumes and musical instruments. 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 US government trade data.
Despite increasingly tough rhetoric towards Iran, which Bush has called part of an "axis of evil", US trade in a range of goods survives on-again, off-again sanctions originally imposed nearly three decades ago.
Exemptions
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.
"Our sanctions are targeted against the regime, not the people," said Adam Szubin, director of the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, which enforces the sanctions. The government tracks exports to Iran using details from shipping records, but in some cases it is unclear whether anyone pays attention.
Sanctions are intended in part to frustrate Iran's efforts to build its military, but the US government's own figures show at least US$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 includes US$106,635 in military rifles and US$8,760 in rifle parts and accessories shipped in 2004, the data shows.
Also shipped to Iran were at least US$13,000 in "aircraft-launching gear and/or deck arrestors," equipment needed to launch jets from aircraft carriers, according to US records. Iran's navy is not believed to own or operate any carriers.
Those numbers may seem small, but military items 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, California for US$2,000 to US$4,000 each, with proceeds benefiting a squadron recreation fund. When F-14s were new, they cost roughly US$38 million each.
Szubin said it was unlikely exports of military gear occurred, but added that the government was looking into it after the AP raised questions. He said shipping records are subject to human error, such as citing wrong commodity codes or recording "Iran" as the destination rather than "Iraq." The Treasury Department said Monday it was still checking to see whether it could offer an explanation.
"That's something that would obviously concern us greatly and concern the whole administration," Szubin said in an interview with the AP. "And so when you presented us with the question in the last day we have called over to our colleagues in other government agencies and you can be assured they're looking very carefully into it."
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 US military aircraft parts to Iran, including Tomcat and attack-helicopter parts.
