A new report by a United Nations panel highlights Iran used methods of evading sanctions like concealing titanium tubes inside steel pipes to using its petrochemical industry as a cover to obtain items for a heavy-water nuclear reactor, according to the Associated Press.
The latest report by a U.N. Panel of Experts which monitors compliance with the Security Council's sanctions regime on Iran said Tehran's attempts to illicitly procure materials for its disputed nuclear and missile programs may have slowed down as it pursues talks on a long-term deal with world powers, the AP reported.
The experts' report, which reached the Security Council's Iran sanctions committee days ahead of a new round of Vienna talks between Iran and six world powers, said an alternative explanation could be that Tehran had merely learned how to outsmart security and intelligence services in acquiring sensitive components and material, according to the AP.
Iran insists its nuclear activities are for peaceful purposes, but Western powers and their allies suspect the country of trying to develop a nuclear weapons capability, the AP reported.
Hamid Babaei, spokesman for Iran's UN mission, said: "Iran's procurement for its peaceful nuclear activities are not illicit; all Iran has done so far is in compliance with its NPT (Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty) rights and obligations ... The irony is whatever Iran does in good faith still tends to be seen with suspicion rather than normal behavior of an NPT member," according to the AP.
One example of concealment given by the panel's report was a set of titanium tubes hidden inside a shipment of stainless steel pipes manufactured in and shipped from China, the AP reported. The pipes were ordered by Ocean Lotka International Shipping and Forwarding Co. on Valiasr St. in Tehran.
The experts recommend that governments exercise greater vigilance over freight-forwarding firms, which often appear as the ordering party on shipments of items destined for Iran, according to the AP. While such practices are not necessarily illegal, the panel says Tehran could use them to conceal final destinations or uses.
"In three cases inspected under the current mandate, names of freight forwarders were recorded on shipping documentation in the place of consignors or consignees," the report said, the AP reported.
