German charged over attempted Iran deal

German prosecutors said Friday that they had charged a businessman with violating export laws for allegedly setting up an unsuccessful deal to sell to Iran material that could have been used for building missiles. The federal prosecutors accuse the 63-year-old, identified only as Hans-Josef H., of illegally trying to export high-quality graphite and violating international sanctions by attempting to deliver goods to a blacklisted recipient in Iran. Between June 2005 to June 2007, they said, the man organized a circuitous deal through an unnamed partner in Turkey to deliver the graphite to Iran. The graphite was listed as being of a lower quality. Another delivery, intended for an unnamed Iranian recipient that also was blacklisted, was intercepted by Turkish customs officials.