8 charged with exporting materials to Iran

MIAMI (AP) — Eight people and eight corporations have been charged with illegally shipping to Iran electronic parts that could be used in weapons, including microchips that have been found in improvised explosive devices in Iraq, federal officials said Wednesday.

The defendants, all of whom live outside the U.S., are charged with buying the goods in the United States and then funneling them to Iran through a third country. The defendants lied about the items' ultimate destination and use, officials said.

The items being shipped included global positioning systems as well as other technology that could be used for civilian purposes but also has military applications, such as computer memory, speech recognition technology and timers. Thousands of parts were shipped.

One type of microchip has been found in the triggering systems of IEDs in Iraq. More than 12,000 of part were ordered.

"This is very serious," U.S. Attorney R. Alexander Acosta of Miami said.