By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com
The CEO of a metallurgy company in New York is accused of illegally exporting to Iran a powder that could be used to produce nuclear-tipped rockets, the Daily Beast reports.
The FBI arrested 44-year-old Erdal Kuyumcu of Woodside, New York, of Global Metallurgy, on charges of exporting a half-ton of the cobalt-nickel powder on
The charges come after Tehran agreed to suspend its nuclear program.
The Daily Beast points out that the powdered metal does have “perfectly legitimate applications in industries unrelated to nuclear weapons.”
Nevertheless, the U.S. is concerned about any material that could be used for an atomic-capable rocket.
The Justice Department alleges that Kuyumcu shipped the power to Iran twice without the necessary approval from the U.S.
“To conceal the true destination of the goods from the U.S. supplier, Kuyumcu and a co-conspirator arranged for the items to be shipped first to Turkey and subsequently to Iran,” the Justice Department stated in a release.
