'Siemens sent equipment to Iran reactor via Russia'
German engineering giant announced cutting relations with Iran but Der Spiegel report says Frankurt Airport customs recently seized Siemens-made switches headed for Bushehr via Moscow
Earlier this year, the German engineering giant announced it does not seek future relations with Iran and became one of the first German corporations to succumb to government pressure and the US bid to use financial pressure against the Islamic Republic.
According to the Der Spiegel report, the equipment seized in Frankfurt was meant to reach a subsidiary of a Russian nuclear concern which was then meant to complete assembling the parts and send them to Iran.
The report further states that the assembling of the parts was deliberately planned to take place in Russia in order to avoid European Union inspection of technological export to Iran.
A Siemens spokesman claimed the company was not aware of the incident and that the parts were most likely sold by a third party. A spokesman for the Russian company confirmed all the details but refused to comment any further.
German customs inspectors said that six similar shipments have been sent since the end of 2009 containing various Siemens parts for the Iranian nuclear industry. All six shipments left Frankfurt and reached their destination in Bushehr.
German prosecutors have thus far indicted three leading companies for exporting goods to Iran which do not meet the criteria set by the EU. Siemens was not part of those three.
Siemens is one of the largest companies in Germany. During the Third Reich era it set up factories in work camps including one in Auschwitz which "employed" roughly 100,000 prisoners. It has invested in several projects in Israel in the last few years in the fields of energy, infrastructure and communications.
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