The three breached British arms embargoes by arranging deals to export to the Middle East nation after importing a host of military parts to the UK via the bidding website.
Their complex plot involved an attempt to supply Iran with equipment for F-14 Tomcat fighter jets, similar to those which featured in the Hollywood blockbuster starring Tom Cruise, Southwark Crown Court heard.
Mohsen Akhavan Nik and his son Mohammad Akhavan Nik, who were granted political asylum in the UK having apparently fled from Iran in 1995, together with Nithish Jaitha, were caught after HM Revenue and Customs officers stopped a consignment of oxygen cylinders at Heathrow Airport which were bound for Tehran.
Mohsen Nik, 49, and Mohammad Nik, 26, of Ascot, Berkshire, were jailed for five years and two and a half years respectively while Jaitha, 43, of Chalgrove, Oxford, was sentenced to two and a half years for the conspiracy to export controlled goods.
Iran's ageing jet fighters, including the F-14 Tomcat, F4 Phantoms, F5 Tigers and Cobra Attack helicopters, can only be kept in service through parts purchased in the United States and then illegally shipped to Iran using fraudulent paperwork.
The items were sourced on eBay in the US and shipped to an address in Florida to avoid the need for an export licence.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/5445615/EBay-arms-smugglers-jailed.html
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