DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran has pursued a longstanding effort to buy banned components for its nuclear and missile programmes in recent months, a U.S. official said, a period when it struck an interim deal with major powers to limit its disputed atomic activity.
Vann Van Diepen, principal deputy assistant secretary of state for international security and non-proliferation, added that a Chinese businessman indicted in the United States in 2009 over sales of missile parts to Iran continued to supply such items despite U.S. pressure on China to tighten export controls.