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Israeli arms dealers tried to sell jet spare parts to Iran

April 9, 2014 at 10:08 am

Israeli weapons smugglers tried to send spare parts for F-4 Phantom jets to Iran via a ghost company based in Athens, Greek daily newspaper Kathimerini revealed on Monday.


The newspaper cited the findings of a probe conducted by joint American and Greek efforts, headed by US Homeland Security and Greece’s Financial Crimes Squad.

According to the investigation, the spare parts of the F-4 aircraft originated in Binyamina, located to the south of Haifa, the city that hosts Israel’s largest seaport, and were shipped to the Greek company based near the capital city of Athens. Then, the shipment was scheduled to leave for Iran.

Kathimerini reported that the Greek company is registered under the name of Tassos Karras SA, adding that the Greek authorities have determined that this is a ghost company.

The deal was carried out in two phases during December 2012 and April 2013. The report pointed out that if the deal had been successfully completed, it would have been a violation of a weapons embargo imposed on Iran.

The identities of the Israeli arms dealers were not revealed. A court in Athens ruled in November 2013 that the confiscated spare parts be delivered to the American authorities.

Source: Kathimerini