Iranian linked Italian Lawyer Attending Arms Fair in UK

28th Septeber 2011 – STOP THE BOMB PRESS RELEASE: Iranian linked Italian Lawyer Attending Arms Fair in UK

Stop the Bomb UK can reveal that Raffaele Rossi Patriarca, an Italian lawyer arrested for his role in trafficking illegal arms to Iran, is attending the Helitech Helicopter Exhibition in Duxford this week.

Last year, on March 3, seven people were arrested for illegal arms trafficking. Of the seven people arrested, five were Italians and two Iranians. Two further Iranians Hamir Reza, e Bakhtiyari Homayou vanished. One of the five Italians was Raffaele Rossi Patriarca. Patriarca met with Iranian military officials interested in buying the armaments. The two Iranians were Nejad Hamid Masoumi and Ali Damirchiloo, both suspected to be Iranian secret agents. Working as a journalist, Masoumi was arrested in Rome while Damirchiloo was arrested in Turin.

Milanese police confiscated a large amount of tracer bullets, explosives from Easter Europe, and a highly inflammable mixture of chemical material, used as ammunition, booster explosive, or incendiary bomb. Police also found parachutes, a helicopter, aviators’ helmets, and 120 scuba diving jackets intended for military equipment.

Stop the Bomb spokesperson Sam Westrop noted, “One would expect that Patriarca, having been arrested for aiding the Iranian military, would want to keep clear of the arms fair world. Let’s hope none of the contracts he signs in Duxford end up providing tools of oppression to the Iranian regime.”