Cheshire Cat Photo Blog(...said the Cat: 'we're all mad here....')

It’s not just aged, stolen VW microbuses that get shipped out of LA. An indictment filed in the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles charges that Jiraiir Avanessian, 56, an Iranian-born chemical engineer living in Glendale, was paid several hundred thousand dollars to ship “high dollar vacuum pumps and pump related” equipment that could potentially be used in the development of nuclear weapons, to Iran.

Authorities allege that three men were trying to smuggle high-grade vacuum pumps and other items into Iran in violation of federal trade laws and U.S. sanctions. The parts, which were devalued and mislabeled, were first to be shipped to a co-defendant in the United Arab Emirates, with the appearance of that being the final destination. Then, the co-defendant would forward the items to a third defendant in Tehran, according to court papers.

Louis Rodi, a top supervisor in the Los Angeles Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office, said, “These were educated men.” “These imdividuals knew what they were doing.”

An ICE official said that the case has drawn the interest of the highest levels of government.

Note added February 19, 2010: Today, Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said (according to CNN):

“Iran will not get emotional in its response to these nonsensical statements, because we have often said that our religious tenets and beliefs consider these kinds of weapons of mass destruction to be symbols of genocide and are, therefore, forbidden and considered to be haram (religiously banned),” he said. “This is why we do not believe in atomic bombs and weapons and do not seek them.”

To me, the statement came FAR TOO SOON after yesterday’s news of a draft report by a U.N. watchdog agency, the International Atomic Energy Agency, that Iran may be pursuing nuclear warheads for missiles. Meanwhile, North Korea, which has enough plutonium to build an estimated six nuclear bombs (and HAS missiles), refuses to dismantle its nuclear program. Without any “insider knowledge” whatsoever, I believe that time is running out for Iran. Actually, I am quite surprised that the international community has not already acted… decisively. The situation with North Korea is less clear. I am just glad that I don’t live there.)

-Bill at

Cheshire Cat Photo™ – “Your Guide to California’s Wonderland™”

You can view higher-resolution photos (*generally* 7-30 megabytes, compressed) at the Cheshire Cat Photo™ Pro Gallery on Shutterfly™, where you can also order prints and gifts decorated with the photos of your choice from the gallery. Apparel and other gifts decorated with some of our most popular photos can be ordered from the Cheshire Cat Photo™ Store on CafePress®. Both Shutterfly™ and CafePress® ship to most international locations worldwide! Framed prints and prints on canvas can be ordered from our galleries on imagekind® and redbubble®. All four locations are accessible from here. If you don’t see what you want or would like to receive an email when new photos are up on the site, send us an email at info@cheshirecatphoto.com.

©2010 William F. Hackett. All Rights Reserved.