Feds to Seize Iranian Assets

[Christina]

Feds Prepare to Seize Four Mosques, Office Building Suspected of Iranian TiesThursday , November 12, 2009Federal prosecutors Thursday took steps to seize four U.S. mosques and a Fifth Avenue skyscraper owned by a nonprofit Muslim organization long suspected of being secretly controlled by the Iranian government.In what could prove to be one of the biggest counterterrorism seizures in U.S. history, prosecutors filed a civil complaint in federal court seeking the forfeiture of more than $500 million in assets of the Alavi Foundation and an alleged front company.The assets include Islamic centers in New York City, Maryland, California and Houston, more than 100 acres (40 hectares) of land in Virginia, and a 36-story office tower in New York.Seizing the properties would be a sharp blow against Iran, which has been accused by the U.S. government of bankrolling terrorism and seeking a nuclear bomb.A telephone call and e-mail to Iran's U.N. Mission seeking comment were not immediately answered.It is extremely rare for U.S. law enforcement authorities to seize a house of worship, a step fraught with questions about the First Amendment right to freedom of religion.The action against the Shiite Muslim mosques is sure to inflame relations between the U.S. government and American Muslims, many of whom are fearful of a backlash after last week's Fort Hood shooting rampage, blamed on a Muslim American soldier.The mosques and the office tower will remain open while the forfeiture case works its way through court in what could be a long process. What will happen to them if the government ultimately prevails is unclear. But the government typically sells properties it has seized through forfeiture, and the proceeds are sometimes distributed to crime victims.There were no raids Thursday as part of the forfeiture action. The government is simply required to post notices of the civil complaint on the property.Prosecutors said the Alavi Foundation, through a front company known as Assa Corp., illegally funneled millions in rental income back to Iran's state-owned Bank Melli. Bank Melli has been accused by a U.S. Treasury official of providing support for Iran's nuclear program, and it is illegal in the United States to do business with the bank.Government officials have long suspected the foundation was an arm of the Iranian government; a 97-page complaint details involvement of several top officials in foundation business, including the country's deputy prime minister and ambassadors to the United Nations."For two decades, the Alavi Foundation's affairs have been directed by various Iranian officials, including Iranian ambassadors to the United Nations, in violation of a series of American laws," U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said in a statement.The skyscraper, known as the Piaget building, was erected in the 1970s under the shah of Iran, who was overthrown in 1979. The tenants include law and investment firms and other businesses.The sleek, modern building, last valued at $570 million to $650 million in 2007, has served as important source of income for the foundation over the past 36 years. The most recent tax records show the foundation earned $4.5 million from rents in 2007.Rents collected from the building help fund the centers and other ventures, such as sending imprisoned Muslims in the U.S. educational literature. The foundation has also invested in dozens of mosques around the country and supported Iranian academics at prominent universities.If federal prosecutors seize the skyscraper, the Alavi Foundation would have almost no way to continue supporting the Islamic centers, which house schools and mosques. That could leave a major void in Shiite communities, and hard feelings toward the FBI.Legal scholars who specialize in religious liberty issues said they know of only a few cases in U.S. history in which law enforcement authorities have seized a house of worship. Marc Stern, a religious-liberty expert with the American Jewish Congress, called such cases "extremely rare."The Alavi Foundation is the successor organization to the Pahlavi Foundation, a nonprofit group used by the shah to advance Iran's charitable interests in America. But authorities said its agenda changed after the fall of the shah.In 2007, the United States accused Bank Melli of providing services to Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programs and put the bank on its list of companies whose assets must be frozen.The United States has imposed sanctions against various other Iranian banks and other businesses.

 

[Christina]

This ought to kindle a Bon Fire !!

 

[Moses]

This is just the beginning. We have got to go after their money source. Which, unfortunately has many roots here in the U.S.Moses

 

[Christina]

This might explain the move above IAEA sources: Site near Qom must be a military enrichment facility DEBKAfile Special Report November 13, 2009, 3:00 PM (GMT+02:00)Sources close to the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna confirm that the four inspectors who visited the newly discovered Fordo site near Qom last month found a fortified underground installation designed especially for the production of highly-enriched uranium for nuclear weapons. The team's findings contradicted their director Mohamad ElBaradei's dismissal of the site as ""just a hole in a mountain." Their conclusion was cited by a diplomat close to the IAEA to AP as follows: "The enrichment hall is too small to house the tens of thousands of centrifuges needed for peaceful industrial nuclear enrichment, but it is the right size to contain the few thousand advanced machines that could generate the amount of weapons-grade uranium needed to make nuclear warheads." DEBKAfile's intelligence experts say that the strong contradiction between the UN inspectors' findings on site and their boss's evaluations days before his retirement underscores the tactics ElBaradei pursued for years to buy time for Iran to develop its nuclear weapons capacity.

 

[forgivenWretch]

I'll have to agree with Moses. The fuse is lit and it will only be a matter of time before it ignites the bomb.

 

[WhiteKnuckle]

I've got mixed feelings about this here. On one hand, I'm cool with it, and understand. On the other hand, it seems it shows Unky Sam can do what ever he wants when ever he wants..... Not a pretty picture for me.

 

[Moses]

This is where I hope the Patriot Act is doing what it is supposed to do. If you pose a threat to national security, then the government has the right to do what needs to be done. If you don't pose a threat to national security, then leave them alone. It can be a very tricky situation. I pray the government does what is right.Moses