but it still has not agreed to extradite a former Iranian diplomat for trial on similar charges.
There has been no explanation why the current Conservative government and the previous Labor Party government have sat on the case of Nosratollah Tajik, a onetime Iranian ambassador to Jordan, whom the United States has been trying to put on trial for more than four years.
But England’s News Shopper daily reported Monday that Home Secretary Theresa May had signed an extradition order to send Christopher Tappin, 64, off to the United States for trial on charges that he conspired to export special batteries for surface-to-air missiles to Iran.
There was not even a need to address Tappin’s extradition request now given that Tappin’s appeal to the US extradition request is still before the courts and not due to be heard until the fall.
But Tajik’s appeals were exhausted 2 1/2 years ago and yet three successive home secretaries—Labor’s Jacqui Smith and Alan Johnson and the Conservatives’ Theresa May—have simply sat on the issue, taken no action and issued no comment. Britain uses the term home secretary for what most other countries call an interior minister, the agency overseeing the police and criminal issues.
Tappin, a millionaire businessman who is president of his local county golf club, has been fighting extradition and accusing the Americans of setting him up. Despite his social connections, his extradition papers have now been signed while Tajik’s just sit yellowing.
Tajik sits at his home in northern England. A leaked WikiLeaks cable published in March suggested the extradition had been delayed for political reasons—to encourage nuclear talks with Iran.
The explanation appears at odds, however, with statements given to the House of Commons four months after the cable was sent, saying the extradition was a judicial process and that the sole issue to be considered was whether it would breach Tajik’s human rights.
Tajik, the Iranian ambassador to Jordan from 1999 to 2003, was arrested at his home in Coxhoe, County Durham, in far northern England in October 2006 after an undercover sting operation carried out by US agents posing as arms dealers.
The US Government applied to extradite Tajik, who formerly taught at Durham University’s Institute for Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, on allegations he had attempted to buy military night-vision goggles for illegal export to Iran.
Tajik’s lawyers denied he had any connections to terrorists and said US agents were running amok in Britain, inciting people to break the law.
By October 2008, they had exhausted all legal avenues open to fight his extradition. With Tajik suffering from heart problems, they then said he was too ill to be removed from the country.
The leaked US diplomatic cable was prepared by the US Embassy in London on October 6, 2009, ahead of Secretary of State Hilary Clinton’s visit to London for talks with then Prime Minister Gordon Brown. The memo highlighted issues likely to arise during discussions.
Under a section on Iran, the memo says: “UK officials may also raise the issue of Nosratollah Tajik, former Iranian ambassador to Jordan, currently under arrest in the UK and awaiting extradition to the US on charges of procuring restricted military items (night-vision goggles) for the Iranian government.
“Tajik has exhausted all judicial appeals in the UK and all that stands in the way of the extradition is approval by the Home Secretary.
“Before approving the extradition, the UK wants to be sure the timing is right and will not interfere with our joint efforts through the P5+1 to engage with Iran.”
The final sentence refers to diplomatic talks among China, Russia, the UK, US, France and Germany and Iran over Tehran’s nuclear program.
In October 2006, London Metropolitan Police officers, acting at the request of the US Government, arrested Tajik.
It is thought to be the first time US agents were revealed using sting tactics in Britain, sparking anger from Nick Clegg, then the Liberal Democrat Home Affairs spokesman in the House of Commons, but now the deputy prime minister of Britain.
The case went to court in London in December 2006, where Tajik was accused of being the UK link in a £1.5 million ($2.4 million) illegal arms network spanning three continents.
US Department of Homeland Security officials based in Chicago began investigating in October 2005, striking up a relationship with someone with an Iran-based email address, who referred them to Tajik, the court heard.
In April 2007, District Judge Caroline Tubbs ruled that Tajik could be extradited, saying there was no evidence of an abuse of process in the actions of the US agents or any evidence the prosecution was politically motivated.
Tajik appealed to the High Court, the House of Lords and finally, in October 2008, to Jacqui Smith, then Home Secretary, saying he was too ill to travel.
According to reports, Iran has regularly requested that the case be dropped. Officials are said to bring up the issue whenever there are official talks. Once, The Northern Echo reported, Tehran demanded Tajik be freed in exchange for the release of five British yachtsmen who had unknowingly strayed into Iranian territorial waters near the island of Abu Musa.
Meanwhile, the Obama Administration is said to have become angry and frustrated at Tajik’s extradition being delayed by legal technicalities. Whatever the case, more than two years on, a decision on whether the extradition should go ahead is still to be reached.
A Home Office spokesman said the Home Secretary, now Theresa May, was still considering representations from Tajik’s lawyers.
According to a February 2010 report from the Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS), Tajik suggested the undercover US agents should deliver the illegal equipment to Durham for shipment on to Iran.
The report said that, asked whether he had transshipped US items before, Tajik replied: “Yes, yes, yes. Night vision plus the other equipment…. I did it last month and it was no problem.”
The report said that during one meeting, Tajik appeared to know how to operate the military equipment he was shown and asked about buying a naval gun system.
The report said he became suspicious, asking for a radio that would block electronic surveillance to be turned on, speaking in low tones and tapping a table.
The report said Tajik later emailed the agents asking when they would come to Durham to deliver the equipment.