US Exports to Iran (IranVNC.com)

From cosmetics and undergarments; From sculptures to bull semen, The Associated Press reports that U.S. exports to Iran have grown ten-fold in the years since President Bush has occupied the White House.

According to The A-P, at least 158-million dollars worth of exports in cigarettes alone.
Exports from America grew even in the wake of Mr.Bush's declaration at a state-of-the-union address that Iran was one of the pillars of the world's so-called "axis of evil."

So why have exports grown even as the Administration has worked to isolate Iran from the international community?

The answer is that U.S. trade policy exempts agricultural commodities, medicine and a few other categories of goods, furthermore the sanctions first imposed after the Islamic revolution three decades ago have not been uniformly enforced.

According to a U.S. Treasury Department spokesman, sanctions are "targeted against the regime, not the people" of Iran.

More surprisingly, perhaps, although sanctions have been primarily intended to frustrate Iran's efforts to build its military, The A-P found that at least $148-thousand dollars worth of unspecified weapons and other military gear were exported from the U.S. to Iran, including more than 107-thousand dollars in military rifles and rifle parts.
U-S authorities now are investigating whether the export of military items could be even more significant than this suggests. Two men in the state of Florida were indicted recently on charges they shipped U.S. military aircraft parts to Iran, including TomCat and attack-helicopter parts.
The Associated Press, using the federal government's own data, concluded that Iran received about 640-thousand dollars worth of aircraft and aircraft parts during President Bush's two terms in office. The news service concluded that the U.S. government seems uncoordinated on efforts to limit trade with Iran.

To date, Administration efforts to pass laws that would strengthen enforcement of trade sanctions has been stalled in Congress.
Exports to Iran are a politically sensitive but tiny part of the trade that could result should diplomatic relations improve between the U.S. and Iran.

Of the exported products during the last seven years, the number one category has been cigarettes.The number two category, behind tobacco products, includes vaccines, serums and blood products.

American businesses view Iran as an untapped market with great earning potential. 45-hundred sought export licenses.

If political tensions ease, millions of people in both the U.S. and Iran could benefit.

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