[FPSPACE] Russian Firms Giving Iran `Substantial' Missile Aid, says CIASays

[JamesOberg@aol.com]

Russian Firms Giving Iran `Substantial' Missile Aid, CIA
Says

By Tony Capaccio


Washington, August 9 (Bloomberg) -- Russian companies and
state-run institutions in 1999 continued to sell ballistic
missile technology to Iran, even after Russia agreed to
curtail such transfers, the Central Intelligence Agency says
in a new report. 

``Despite some examples of restraint, Russian businesses
continue to be major suppliers of weapons of mass
destruction equipment, materials and technology to Iran,''
the CIA said in the report, which covered the last half of
1999. 

The agency said the transfers will help Iran accelerate
development of a ballistic missile, the CIA said. 

The report's conclusions could hurt U.S.-Russian relations
and could be a financial blow to Lockheed Martin Corp.,
which wants permission to expand a joint program with Russia
to launch Russian Proton rockets. 

The CIA report is the latest confirmation that Iran, despite
the emergence of a pro-Western, reformist movement, is still
trying to develop long-range ballistic missiles capable of
reaching Europe and the U.S. 

That threat from Iran and other nations is one of the
factors cited by those who want the U.S. to push ahead with
an antimissile system that can defend the U.S. from a
limited ballistic missile attack. 

Lockheed Martin 

The CIA report is ammunition for those U.S. policy-makers
who want to extend a quota imposed on Lockheed Martin and
Russian commercial rocket launches. 

The quota of 20 Proton launches through 2000 was imposed
several years ago as financial leverage on the Russian
government to force a crackdown on the transfer of missile
and chemical weapons technology to Iran. Lockheed Martin
launches Proton rockets for U.S. satellite makers through a
joint venture with RSC Energia and Khrunichev Enterprise
called International Launch Services, or ILS. Each launch
brings ILS as much as $100 million in revenue. 

The quota expires Dec. 31, but the administration is mulling
an extension. ``That is under active consideration,'' John
Holum, the State Department senior adviser for arms control
told reporters last month 

``There is a pattern that suggests serious intent on the
part of the Russian Space Agency'' to address concerns over
proliferation, Holum said. ``All the same, there is still a
pattern of cooperation by some entities. We are still
concerned about reports that we get.'' 

Russian enforcement and prosecution of stricter 1999 export
laws ``remains weak'' in spite of some progress, the CIA
said.