Spanish police said Monday they had arrested four members of a network that was trying to ship machinery to Iran in violation of international sanctions, the Wall Street Journal reported from Madrid.
Three Spaniards and one Iranian were trying to send to Iran two metal-molding machines originally purchased in the U.K., police said. The machines could be used for civilian purposes or to make parts of missiles or gas centrifuges used to enrich uranium, the officers said.
The arrests were the latest in Spain’s enforcement of U.S.-led sanctions against Iran. Those sanctions have tightened export controls against dual-use technology, which can have both civilian and military applications.
Last year Spanish police arrested two people who were trying to smuggle to Iran what authorities called material suitable for use in the nuclear industry. In 2012, police raided the headquarters of a Spanish company after it found the company sold banned equipment to Iran via a Turkish company.
