WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The illegal export of U.S. military technology to Iran and China poses a growing threat, the Justice Department said Thursday as it announced plans to combat the practice.
Iran is the only country still flying the F-14 Tomcat.
The department said the United States will tighten monitoring of export licenses and increase export restrictions on technologies that could have both civilian and military applications and could pose a danger to U.S. national security in the hands of terrorists or potential enemies.
"China and Iran pose particular U.S. export control concerns," the Justice Department said in a statement issued Thursday. "Recent prosecutions have highlighted illegal exports of stealth missile technology, military aircraft components, naval warship data, night vision equipment, and other restricted technology destined for China or Iran."
Representatives of more than a half dozen federal agencies will jointly announce their plans at a Justice Department news conference Thursday.
Officials plan to highlight two recent cases. In the past week a Pittsburgh company, SparesGlobal Inc., was sentenced for lying about an illegal export of products that can be used in nuclear reactions and in the nose cones of ballistic missiles. The products ended up in Pakistan after being routed from the United Arab Emirates.
In Utah, two men were charged last week with attempting to illegally export restricted components for F-4 and F-14 fighter jets. F-14 components are widely sought by Iran, which is the only military in the world that still flies the jet. E-mail to a friend 
CNN's Terry Frieden contributed to this report.
| Most Viewed | Most Emailed | Top Searches |
From the Blogs: 
Sit tight, we're getting to the good stuff
