The Hill:
With the presidential campaign in full swing, U.S. media may be forgiven for downplaying the news of Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif’s six-nation tour of Latin America last week. His visit, however, should elicit concern in Washington.
Iran has long relied on Latin America to evade Western sanctions, including, critically, on ballistic missiles technology. Now sanctions are gone and Iran’s missile activity no longer banned, but Tehran continues to use America’s backyard to develop long-range missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads.
Earlier this month, the Brazilian journalist Leonardo Coutinho confirmed the strategic importance of Latin America to Iran’s military program in the magazine La Veja. Coutinho exposed an official document dated Aug. 3, 2009, showing that then-Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez had approved a $1.3-million investment for a joint venture between Venezuela’s state defense contractor, CAVIM, and Iran’s Parchin Chemical Industries.
The project involved the establishment and improvement of facilities for producing nitrocellulose and nitroglycerine, both key components of solid rocket fuel. Cooperation between Iran and Venezuela’s military sectors has been well-known for years, but it was the first time an official document has emerged showing Chávez’s approval of joint military industrial projects.
The sum is trivial, but the timing and the partnerships are of critical importance. Iran’s missile program came under intense international pressure after the U.N. Security Council passed two resolutions (1696 and 1737) in 2006, enacting sanctions against Iran’s procurement efforts. Specifically, Resolution 1737 named Parchin Chemical Industries as a key player in Tehran’s ballistic missile program. European Union and U.S. sanctions passed in 2007 and 2008 targeted Parchin Chemical Industries as well, and sought to freeze its assets and block its financial transactions.
