German court to try man accused of smuggling munitions to Iran

May 3, 2010, 16:42 GMT

Karlsruhe - A 53-year-old businessman is to appear in a German court over allegations that he secretly supplied munitions to Iran, the Federal Court of Justice announced Monday.

The man, of dual German and Iranian nationality, is accused of delivering raw materials, equipment and spare parts worth 575,000 euros (764,000 dollars) to Iran. A Munich court had originally rejected the trial.

Federal prosecutors said the man had acted on behalf of Iran-based Defence Industries Organization (DIO), which applied 'intelligence service methods' to organize the delivery of goods and information for the production of Iranian armaments.

Germany's Federal court justified its decision to put the man on trial as it was sufficiently likely that the exported goods were intended for a 'military final use.'

The defendant is alleged to have exported so-called 'dual-use' goods, with civil and military applications, between 2002-2006. These included metallurgy tools and supplies for chemical plants.

The man had allegedly set up a company with an address in Switzerland, through which he arranged a series of deliveries to Iran.

He is to go on trial in the southern German town of Munich.