Iranian stockpile scares U.S. Arms needed to fight drugs, nation insists

VIENNA, Austria (AP) - Iran is quietly building a stockpile of thousands of high-tech small arms and other military equipment - from armor-piercing sniper rifles to night-vision goggles - through legal weapons deals and a U.N. anti-drug program, say arms dealers, Western diplomats and an internal U.N. document.

The buying spree is raising Bush administration fears the arms could end up with militants in Iraq. Tehran also is seeking approval for a U.N.-funded satellite network that Iran says it needs to fight drug smugglers, stoking U.S. worries it could be used to spy on Americans in Iraq or Afghanistan - or any U.S. reconnaissance in Iran itself.

Iran says it needs the satellite network; high-tech small arms bought on the European arms market; and night-vision goggles, body armor and advanced communications gear through the U.N program to fight drug smugglers pouring in from neighboring Afghanistan."We need assistance," Pirouz Hosseini, Iran’s chief delegate to U.N. organizations in Vienna said, dismissing U.S. fears as "a political stance not based on realities."

But such high-resolution satellite imagery could reveal what U.S. troops in neighboring Iraq and Afghanistan are doing on the ground - or could show the Iranians what the United States is seeing as it spies from outer space for evidence of illicit Iranian nuclear activity.{snip}In a more recent - and legal - deal, Iran last month took delivery of hundreds of high-powered armor-piercing sniper rifles with scopes from an Austrian firm as part of a consignment for 2,000 of the weapons.

Confirming the sale, Wolfgang Fuerlinger, head of Steyr Mannlicher GmbH, said U.S. Embassy officials had expressed concerns the arms could make their way to Iraq for use against U.S. troops.The Austrian government approved the sales in November after concluding the arms would be used to fight drug smugglers.

Although wary of Iran’s ultimate purpose, other European countries have sanctioned similar deals when convinced Tehran would use the equipment to fight the drug trade, said an Austrian official, declining to offer details.