4 charged in US Iran-China weapons shipment

NEW YORK (AP) - Four men have been charged with arranging shipments to China and Iran of weapons materials or a substance that can be used in uranium enrichment, officials announced on Wednesday after indictments containing the charges were unsealed.

Three of the men have been arrested while the fourth is being sought to face charges described in court papers in US District Court in Manhattan.

Those charges include allegations that they broke embargo and export laws, with two of them accused of arranging to send a shipment of carbon fibre to Iran, where US Attorney Preet Bharara said it "most assuredly had the potential to end up in the wrong hands." Authorities said carbon fibre can be used in gas centrifuges that enrich uranium and in military aircraft and strategic missiles.

"Whether motivated by greed or otherwise, these defendants allegedly violated the law, including by arranging for the export of carbon fibre that can be used in uranium enrichment," said Mr George Venizelos, head of the New York FBI office.