German prosecutors are preparing criminal charges against a group of Germans whom they suspect of illegally helping Iran obtain technology that could be used to develop nuclear weapons, officials and diplomats said.
The General Prosecutor's Office in Karlsruhe said it was in contact with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna, the U.N. nuclear watchdog, about its investigation into nuclear proliferation activities.
"The General Prosecutor's Office is contact with the IAEA in Vienna in connection with an investigation of suspected proliferation directed by an intelligence agency," said Frauke-Katrin Scheuten, a senior federal prosecutor.
She declined to give further details.
However, a European Union diplomat familiar with the investigation said the prosecutors were focusing on a group of more than half a dozen Germans living in Germany, Switzerland and South Africa.
"They are preparing charges against around eight men, mostly for helping Iran, but also Libya, get centrifuge and other nuclear technology," the EU diplomat said on condition of anonymity.
Centrifuges are used to enrich uranium for use as fuel in nuclear power plants or in weapons. The sale of centrifuge components and design information is highly restricted and is subject to strict export controls in most countries.
The diplomat said the Germans were suspected of having acted as middlemen to help Iranian intelligence agents acquire technology that Western countries refused to sell to Iran.