The government is likely to impose stiff sanctions, including a ban on export deals, on Seishin Enterprise Co., a Tokyo-based manufacturer that has been accused of illegally exporting grinding machines that can be used to enhance solid missile fuel to Iran, government sources said Saturday.
The sources said the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry is considering the administrative penalty, which could bar the company from selling its products abroad for up to three years.
The move came two days after Seishin President Haruhiko Ueda and four other Seishin employees were arrested on suspicion of exporting advanced jet mills to Iran without government approval.
Government sources said it was highly likely that METI would impose stiff sanctions on Seishin, adding that the company had deliberately misled customs authorities in their export documentation.
The documents filed by Seishin, the sources said, include a certificate that underrated the capabilities of the jet mills.
The government contends that the mills sold to Iran were a high-capacity model that can be adapted to military uses.
Seishin allegedly told the Iranians the jet mills they purchased can grind massive amounts of solid missile fuel and increase the effective range of missiles, Tokyo police sources said.
As well as Iran, Seishin has exported jet mills to China, North Korea, the former Soviet Union and eastern Europe.
Exports of jet mills are regulated by the Missile Technology Control Regime treaty. In Japan, exports of high-capacity jet mills and their components to Iran, Iraq, Libya and North Korea require permission from the minister of economy, trade and industry.