A Chinese man, an Iranian and two Iranian firms were charged in the United States with conspiring to export devices to Iran that can serve to enrich uranium, AFP cited an indictment unsealed Friday April 5.
Sihai Cheng, 34, was arrested on February 7 at London’s Heathrow Airport.
London’s Metropolitan Police force said Cheng had already appeared at a court in the capital and was awaiting his next appearance.
US prosecutors say Shanghai-based Cheng conspired with Seyed Abolfazl Shahab Jamili of Tehran and the Iranian companies Nicaro Eng. Co. and Eyvaz Technic Manufacturing Co. to export US-made pressure transducers.
The devices, which are a type of sensor, can be used in gas centrifuges to “convert natural uranium into a form that can be used for nuclear weapons,” the indictment said.
MKS Instruments Inc. in Andover, Massachusetts produced the parts. According to the indictment, Cheng would ship the transducers to Iran upon receiving them in China.
Publicly available photographs of Iran’s Natanz enrichment facility show “numerous” MKS pressure transducers attached to Iran’s gas centrifuge cascades, the indictment said.