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U.S. nuclear equipment smuggled to Iran

LONDON -- Iranian agents have smuggled U.S. nuclear equipment from Sweden, Swedish state television reported on Monday.

The television said U.S. electronic equipment used in Swedish reactors was smuggled out of Sweden and arrived in Iran. The report said a man was arrested for forging export permits.

Iran has been seeking nuclear technology for its weapons program, Western intelligence sources said. They said that the effort might have been increased over recent months as the United States presses Russia and China to downgrade their nuclear ties with Teheran.

In Teheran, Iranian efforts to improve relations with Germany appeared in jeopardy on Monday as Teheran authorities ignored an acquittal of a German businessman facing the death sentence and kept him in jail.

Helmut Hofer was scheduled to be released from a Teheran prison on Sunday after being acquitted on charges of adultery with a Muslim.woman. But the 55-year-old businessman was ordered kept in jail, prompting the German consul to walk out of the courtroom.

The Iranian order threatened to stymie efforts by President Mohammed Khatami to improve relations with Berlin on the eve of his trip to Europe. Khatami is scheduled to visit Paris later this month and will also address a United Nations conference.

Last week, demonstrations were organized throughout Europe in a protest against Khatami's planned visit.

The European Parliament has condemned the death sentences handed down to four students in connection with July's riots as well as the arrest of 13 Iranian Jews charged with spying for Israel and the United States.

On Tuesday, Greek President Kostis Stephanopoulos is scheduled to arrive in Teheran in what Greek officials termed a highly important visit. that Greek officials here called their "most important visit" yet to a Gulf state. Stephanopoulos, leading a 200-member delegation for the four-day visit, will be the second EU president to visit Iran over the last month.

"Iran and Greece have reached a very promising level of bilateral relations and have established an excellent climate of mutual confidence and cooperation for the benefit of our peoples," Stephanopoulos said.

"It will be the most important visit [yet] by a Greek president to a Persian Gulf littoral state," Greek ambassador Dimitri Tsikourtis said, cited by the official IRNA news agency.

Greek imports close to $600 million in Iranian oil and exports $10 million to the Islamic republic.