June 20-2014
Two Iranian men have been charged in Germany with smuggling dozens of German-made engines to Iran by declaring them as jet ski engines.
The engines were described in court as intended to power Iran’s Ababil drones, which Iran claims are entirely built in Iran.
The men, identified only as Iman J.L., who also holds German nationality, and Davood A., went on trial at a Frankfurt court Monday.
They are accused of violating Germany’s Foreign Trade Act by disguising the true nature of the goods in an apparent effort to get around trade sanctions imposed on Iran over its nuclear work.
Iman J.L. is accused of obtaining 61 engines in 2008 and 2009 and delivering them to Iran through his own import-export company.
Davood A. is accused of assisting in the transport and selling some of the motors to Iran.
Iman J.L. declined to make a statement to the court, while Davood A. did not show up for the trial. His case will now be tried separately, the court said.
The engines are suitable for use in Iran’s Ababil 3 drones, according to a court statement.
The Ababil (Swallow) is a small drone less than 3 meters (10 feet) long—that is, shorter than a Volkswagen Beatle. An unknown number of Ababils are known to have been supplied to Hezbollah in Lebanon. The Ababil comes in several variants and can be used both as an attack aircraft and as a spy craft.