Westlake Village Man Must Stand Trial in Iran Arms Deal

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. —  A federal judge has refused to dismiss charges against a Southern California man charged with exporting missile parts to Iran. The judge also ruled that the man’s lawyers may not see five classified government documents.

The rulings cleared the way for jury selection to begin Monday.

Chief U.S. District Judge T. F. Gilroy Daly said defense motions to dismiss the charges were “devoid of merit” and also denied a renewed motion to set bail for Arif Durrani of Westlake Village.

Durrani, 37, has been held without bail since his Oct. 3, 1986, arrest at a Danbury company on charges of exporting Hawk missile parts to Iran without a government export permit.

Durrani maintains U.S. officials asked him to find out-of-stock Hawk missile parts to assist the effort to free American hostages held in Lebanon.

On Wednesday, Daly issued a ruling saying he had reviewed five classified documents supplied by the National Security Council, which included dispatches from Lt. Col. Oliver L. North to Vice Adm. John M. Poindexter.

“The review makes it clear that nothing has been redacted that is either relevant or admissible, or called for by the subpoena served on the National Security Council,” Daly said.

Daly also quashed three subpoenas served on the CIA, the State Department and the National Security Council that sought thousands of documents related to the Reagan Administration’s arms deals with Iran.