German prosecutors said Thursday they had indicted two men for allegedly supplying industrial equipment for Iran's project to build more potent missiles, DPA reported.
One of the accused is a German national, Heinz Ulrich K, aged 65. The other is an Iranian, Mohsen A, aged 52. They allegedly exported a vacuum sinter furnace costing 850,000 euros (1.1 million dollars) to Iran in July 2007.
The indictments, which are dated August 5 but were made public on Thursday, are the first move in setting up a trial to take place in the western city of Dusseldorf. The two men are accused of offences under a German law that bans unlicensed exports of military value to zones of conflict.
Germany has conducted a number of trials of people accused of surreptitiously exporting advanced industrial equipment to Iran, allegedly to manufacture missile or nuclear-weapons parts.
Prosecutors said that because of a world arms embargo, the sale of the vacuum sinter furnace ought to have been reported and cleared by German authorities before going ahead.