Photo Gallery Destination Iran
The nuclear power plant in Bushehr, Iran: Customs officials at Frankfurt Airport say they intercepted in July a shipment of Siemens parts, including switches, switching components and computer modules, destined for a Russian customer. German authorities say that the Russian customer was supposed to forward the Frankfurt shipment through Moscow to its final destination, Iran's controversial nuclear reactor in Bushehr.
Munich-based Siemens stopped accepting new orders from Iran on July 1, in response to pressure from the German government and from the United States to completely withdraw from the country.
Siemens is in the process of forming a joint venture for the peaceful use of nuclear energy with the Russians. Here, Siemens CEO Peter Löscher (left) is seen with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin during a Nov. 9, 2009 meeting in Moscow.
The German government and other European countries suspect that Iranian President Ahmadinejad is seeking to develop nuclear weapons under the guise of a civilian nuclear program, which Ahmadinejad vehemently denies. The Europeans fear that the Bushehr plant could be misused to build bombs.
