U.S. Allies Took Part in ’87 Arms Sales to Iran

U.S. allies were among the nations that exported a total of $1.5 billion in military equipment to Iran last year, including weapons, trucks and chemical warfare gear, U.S. intelligence sources said Tuesday.

The governments of Spain and Portugal and private firms in West Germany and Japan made the sales despite protests from the U.S. government, which has proposed an arms embargo against Iran.

The largest supplier of arms to Iran in 1987 was China, which shipped $600 million worth of artillery, ammunition and Silkworm anti-ship missiles. The Chinese also sold Iran industrial machinery needed to produce its own weapons, the sources said.

Repeated Denials

The Chinese repeatedly have denied sending arms to Iran. However, U.S. intelligence agencies say that the sales are continuing, with $200 million worth of weapons shipped from China to Iran this month alone. The Chinese have agreed to provide at least another $400 million in arms to Iran this year, the officials said.

The totals were compiled as part of an updated Pentagon analysis of foreign military transactions with Iran. The arms sales came despite repeated public and private protests from the United States, and they undercut American efforts to block weapons shipments to Iran.

The nations’ response to the U.S. protests was not known.

“We don’t comment on diplomatic exchanges,” a State Department spokesman said.

Arms Curbs Unsuccessful

The United States has tried unsuccessfully through the United Nations and diplomatic channels to impose an arms embargo on Iran, which is using the weapons in its seven-year-old war with neighboring Iraq and to attack shipping in the Persian Gulf.

The United States has sought a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for an arms embargo. Except for Britain and France, no Security Council members have given support to the effort.

North Korea sold $400 million in military hardware to the Tehran regime last year, including artillery, fast patrol boats and Soviet-design Scud ground-to-ground missiles, the sources said. A large shipment of arms from North Korea arrived at the Iranian naval base at Bandar Abbas last week, containing four Soviet-design Styx anti-ship missiles and at least one Silkworm missile.

Has Range of 50 Miles

The Silkworm, a Chinese variant of the Soviet Styx, carries a 1,000-pound warhead and has a range of 50 miles. It has been used by Iran to attack Kuwait’s main oil-loading terminal and an American-flag ship in Kuwaiti waters.

Spain and Portugal last year sent Iran $150 million worth of military equipment, primarily small arms and munitions, according to Administration officials.

Japanese commercial firms delivered $100 million worth of trucks and spare parts to Iran, most of which are being used by the Iranian military and Revolutionary Guards, officials said. It is not known whether the Japanese government, which bans the export of military hardware, sanctioned the sales or their military application.

Chemical Warfare Gear

The private West German firms and others in Switzerland sold Iran what was described as “large quantities” of chemical warfare defensive gear, sources said. The value of the sales could not be determined, nor was it known whether the European nations’ governments approved the sales.

Iraq has used chemical weapons against Iran, which reportedly is buying similar weapons from Libya and building plants to produce toxic gases.

Iran last year received $350 million worth of military hardware from Warsaw Pact countries other than the Soviet Union, the sources said. The deliveries included a large number of troop carriers and small self-propelled guns, officials said.

The officials said that they had no evidence the Soviet Union was providing arms to Tehran.