7 Charged in Plot to Sell Iran Arms : Army Officer at Pentagon Among Suspects in $140-Million Scheme

Seven persons, including a lieutenant colonel attached to the Army’s materiel command at the Pentagon, were charged Thursday with conspiracy to illegally export missiles in an alleged nationwide scheme to sell thousands of sophisticated U.S. and French weapons to Iran for more than $140 million.

FBI and U.S. Customs Service agents, who had conducted a lengthy undercover “sting” investigation, posed as international arms merchants and said that they foiled the alleged conspiracy before any missiles were shipped.

The missiles and other military equipment--including jet engines and a mobile hospital--were to be purchased by Iranian officials and flown to Tehran via Portugal, Spain or Tunisia aboard a chartered Boeing 747 jetliner, according to an affidavit filed in federal district court.

Previous Attempts

Although Iran previously has attempted to surreptitiously obtain spare parts for its U.S.-made aircraft and military weapons, this is the first known attempt by agents for Tehran to purchase entire U.S. weapons systems, officials said. The United States cut off military sales to Iran during the 444-day hostage crisis that began in November, 1979.

“If we had lost a total missile system to Iran, there’s no telling where those missiles would show up,” said William von Raab, U.S. Customs Service commissioner. “It certainly is the kind of equipment that you could easily use to pop an airplane down--or launch into one of our embassies.”

Included in the equipment for sale to the Iranians were long-range surface-to-air missiles, as well as anti-tank and anti-ship missiles, the affidavit said.

Lt. Col. Wayne G. Gillespie, a 46-year-old research development coordinator for the deputy chief of staff in the Army Materiel Command and a missile expert, served as a weapons consultant in the alleged scheme, according to court records. At one point, Gillespie inspected TOW anti-tank missiles in Florida proposed by undercover agents for shipment to Iran, the court records show.

Held on $100,000 Bond

The 25-year Army officer--a veteran of two tours in Vietnam and a graduate of West Point--was arrested at his home in suburban Alexandria, Va., on Wednesday night. He is being held on $100,000 bond.

Others charged in the scheme were arrested in Los Angeles, San Jose and Miami. They include:

--Paul Sjeklocha, also known as Paul Cutter, 47, of San Jose, who is accused of arranging the missile deal. Sjeklocha, a native of Yugoslavia, told undercover agents that he was interested in making the sale “for monetary gain” and not for any political reasons, court records show.

The Times has learned that in 1964, Sjeklocha worked for the U.S. Information Agency in Moscow, but that he was barred from future employment by the agency after he wrote a book that compromised a Soviet dissident. He has written about issues involving military science and technology for technical journals.

Government Status Claimed

--Amir Hosseni, age unknown, of Anaheim, who has claimed to be an official of the Iranian government. That claim has not been verified.

--Farhin Sanai, 52, of Calabasas, an Iranian national who allegedly offered to put up the $300,000 needed for a chartered jetliner. She offered to turn over personal jewelry valued at between $400,000 and $500,000, or to deed her home, to the undercover federal agent who posed as a missile supplier, court records show.

Sjeklocha told the undercover agent that Sanai was his principal contact in the United States and that she also had been “involved in black marketeering in Iran.”

--Fadel M. Fadel, 54, of Calabasas, a Lebanese national who is Sanai’s husband.

--George Neranchi, age unknown, of San Francisco, a former Air Force pilot who, according to the affidavit, was part of the conspiracy to hire the jetliner to transport the missile shipment out of the United States. Like Sjeklocha, Neranchi has written about military science and technology issues.

Seventh Suspect Sought

The FBI said it still is seeking Charles St. Clair, 50, of Granada Hills, the seventh person named in the criminal complaint. He is believed to be in Europe and federal officials said he may surrender voluntarily.

The alleged conspiracy began in March, according to the affidavit, when St. Clair met with an undercover FBI agent in Orlando, Fla. St. Clair told the agent, Richard Witkowski, that he was interested in securing 5,000 TOW, 100 Harpoon and 20 French-made Exocet missiles, 10 engines for F-4 fighter jets, 50 diesel engines and one mobile hospital.

A few weeks later, the agent allegedly was introduced to St. Clair’s partner, Sjeklocha, who said he had been dealing in arms with Iran for two years and had collected “between $6 million and $8 million in profit.”

Sjeklocha also allegedly told the undercover agent that he had completed arms transactions with South Koreans and was negotiating with the Chinese to acquire arms for Iran.

Long Shopping List

Sjeklocha, who contended that he “deals directly with Hussein Zohrei, the Iranian minister of procurement,” said the Iranians had an even more extensive shopping list that included 300 Sidewinder infrared-guided missiles, 300 Sparrow AIM-7E and 7M air-to-air and surface-to-air missiles, 30 Phoenix long-range air-to-air missiles and 60 Harpoon anti-ship missiles--weapons that alone would cost Iran more than $140 million.

Later, he asked if his Iranian buyers could obtain a $350,000 surveillance camera used on F-4 jets.

The San Jose man asked the undercover agent to help him secure a Canadian passport so “his friend Zohrei” could come to the United States to inspect the missiles personally. However, State Department officials said they had never heard of Zohrei and knew of no ministry of procurement in the Iranian government.

Contributing to this story were Times staff writers James Gerstenzang, Doyle McManus, Don Shannon, Marlene Cimons and Jonathan Eig in Washington; Bob Pool and Dorothy Townsend in Los Angeles; Saul Rubin and Nancy Skelton in San Francisco, and Ray Perez in Orange County.