MOSCOW, July 17 (UPI) -- An Uzbek man is accused of attempting to smuggle items into Iran for use in the production of weapons of mass destruction, say Russian prosecutors.
Anar Godzhayev, 39, is being held for allegedly failing to declare a 1-ton shipment of metallic substances, made from tantalum, the Russian news service Novosti reported Thursday.
"Godzhayev, while aware the items for delivery contained strategic raw materials, failed to mention this in the customs declaration form and described the goods as alumina-cobalt-molybdenum catalysts which were not subject to any special procedures. The goods were put into a container for shipping aboard the Ishim vessel," the Prosecutor General's office said.
Tantalum is used in electric components and also to produce super alloys used in aircraft engine parts, nuclear reactors, missile components and chemical equipment, said Novosti.
