Arms dealer to Iran faces only five years

MOBILE, Ala., Nov. 24 (UPI) -- A Belgian national and resident of France faces five years in prison for conspiracy to deliver fighter jet engines and parts from the United States to Iran.

Jacques Monsieur pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama to conspiracy to export F-5 jet engines and parts to Iran in violation of U.S. sanctions.

The U.S. Justice Department considers Monsieur an "experienced" arms dealer. Court documents said he worked with an undercover agent of the U.S. government to procure F-5 fighter jet and C-130 military cargo aircraft engines for export to Iran.

The F-5 engines are replacements for the fighter jets the U.S. government sold to the Iranian government prior to the Islamic revolution in 1979.

Authorities said that both Monsieur and his co-conspirator, Dara Fotouhi, were involved in international arms dealing for decades. The alleged arms dealers are believed to have cooperated for years with the Iranian government to procure military hardware for Tehran.

Monsieur was arrested by federal agents in New York in August. He faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Fotouhi remains at large.

"The guilty plea of Monsieur reflects the government's commitment to ensuring that critical technologies and military-grade weapons not fall into the wrong hands," said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Assistant Secretary John Morton.