Mottaki calls US framing of Iranians abroad futile

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki says the US-manufactured scenarios against Iranian nationals abroad have been proven futile.

“Americans have made up and enacted a consolidated scenario against Iranian nationals in certain countries, most of which have failed,” Mottaki said Wednesday in a telephone conversation with Majid Kakavand, the Iranian national arrested by France in March 2009 over his alleged violation of an American anti-Iran embargo.

Kakavand is charged with having allegedly purchased dual-purpose electronic components in the United States and shipped them to Iran via Malaysia, despite a US embargo.

Mottaki said that the French courts have confirmed that the US claims and the charges against Kakavand were “false.”

The appeals court in Paris has repeatedly delayed a ruling on a US application to extradite Kakavand, reasoning that it needs more information before it can make a decision.

After the US failed to provide sufficient proof, the judge asked for expert advice from France’s General Delegation for Ordnance, which is the body responsible for weapons development and evaluations, and the country’s Directorate-General for External Security (DGSE).

Having evaluated the electronic components that Kakavand has allegedly imported to Iran, both agencies declared that the items could not be used for military purposes as dual-use technology. DGSE further advised that the case against the Iranian detainee was weak and that he should be released.

Kakavand’s French lawyers said that the US authorities seem to have forged documents to try to sway the French court to hand him over.

French political advocate Diane Francois says that some of the documents included “email copies with attachments that did not have corresponding dates,” indicating that the documents were forged, reported Expatica.com on March 31.

“We will ask San Francisco prosecutors to open a federal investigation of the documents provided by the US authorities,” she said.

Several Iranian nationals have gone missing while on trips abroad. Iran has accused the US of abducting the Iranian citizens.

Iran’s foreign ministry has done everything in its capacity to obtain the release of the Iranian nationals in captivity in Britain, France, the United States, Canada, Germany and Saudi Arabia.