Nahum Manbar was sentenced to 16 years in July 1998 for selling materials to make nerve and mustard gas to Iran. He told the court he acted with the approval of the Israeli authorities. The court did not believe that. (The same defense was used with the same lack of success by many American defendants accused of selling arms to Iran after the Iran-Contra scandal.)
Manbar is not permitted to leave Israel, to talk to foreigners, to speak to the press or to engage in any weapons-related trade.
During the trial, the court was told Manbar had earned $16 million between 1991 and 1994 by selling technology and materials to Iran with the “clear knowledge” that they could be used to make chemical weapons.
Manbar fled Israel in 1980 following allegations of fraud, then moved to France in 1985. He was arrested during a visit to Israel in March 1997 and put on trial.