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Arif Durrani

Arif Durrani was a Pakistani arms dealer convicted of illegally providing HAWK antiaircraft missile parts to Iran.

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Arif Durrani was a Pakistani arms dealer convicted of illegally providing HAWK antiaircraft missile parts to Iran.1 He was the son of an army general.2

Arms Dealing and BCCI Connections

Durrani was described as a wealthy arms merchant who traveled the world in luxury.3 He admitted to supplying Iran with arms and stated that he was part of a joint operation conducted by the United States and Israel to release American hostages in the Middle East.4 He met with a U.S. official named Oliver North to obtain HAWK parts.5 His arrest on October 3, 1986, occurred one month before the U.S. government's secret arms-for-hostages deal with Tehran was revealed.6

Durrani had close connections to the BCCI, knowing Agha Hasan Abedi personally and having his operations financed by the bank.7 He grew up in Karachi with many of the men who became BCCI executives and worked with them from the beginning of his career as an arms dealer.8 He stated that BCCI basically funded operations on instructions from the government of Pakistan, including the construction of a Mirage factory.9

He outlined BCCI's and Asaf Ali's weapons deals across the globe, from Bulgaria to Nigeria.10 Durrani also stated that BCCI steered some of his business to First American Bank in New York City, considering BCCI and First American Bank interchangeable for financial transactions.11

Until his arrest, Durrani was the managing director of Merex, a California arms firm that supplied the Israelis.12

Sources

  1. Beaty, Jonathan and Gwynne, S. C. The Outlaw Bank: A Wild Ride into the Secret Heart of BCCI. New York: Random House, 1993, p. 9. ↩
  2. Beaty, Jonathan and Gwynne, S. C. The Outlaw Bank: A Wild Ride into the Secret Heart of BCCI. New York: Random House, 1993, p. 321. ↩
  3. Beaty, Jonathan and Gwynne, S. C. The Outlaw Bank: A Wild Ride into the Secret Heart of BCCI. New York: Random House, 1993, p. 304. ↩
  4. Beaty, Jonathan and Gwynne, S. C. The Outlaw Bank: A Wild Ride into the Secret Heart of BCCI. New York: Random House, 1993, p. 305. ↩
  5. Beaty, Jonathan and Gwynne, S. C. The Outlaw Bank: A Wild Ride into the Secret Heart of BCCI. New York: Random House, 1993, p. 305. ↩
  6. Beaty, Jonathan and Gwynne, S. C. The Outlaw Bank: A Wild Ride into the Secret Heart of BCCI. New York: Random House, 1993, p. 305. ↩
  7. Beaty, Jonathan and Gwynne, S. C. The Outlaw Bank: A Wild Ride into the Secret Heart of BCCI. New York: Random House, 1993, p. 305. ↩
  8. Beaty, Jonathan and Gwynne, S. C. The Outlaw Bank: A Wild Ride into the Secret Heart of BCCI. New York: Random House, 1993, p. 305. ↩
  9. Beaty, Jonathan and Gwynne, S. C. The Outlaw Bank: A Wild Ride into the Secret Heart of BCCI. New York: Random House, 1993, p. 306. ↩
  10. Beaty, Jonathan and Gwynne, S. C. The Outlaw Bank: A Wild Ride into the Secret Heart of BCCI. New York: Random House, 1993, p. 306. ↩
  11. Beaty, Jonathan and Gwynne, S. C. The Outlaw Bank: A Wild Ride into the Secret Heart of BCCI. New York: Random House, 1993, p. 306. ↩
  12. Beaty, Jonathan and Gwynne, S. C. The Outlaw Bank: A Wild Ride into the Secret Heart of BCCI. New York: Random House, 1993, p. 305. ↩

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