Karlsruhe, Germany - A 63-year-old German has been indicted for breaking export laws by selling 16 tons of rocket-building material to Iran, German federal prosecutors said Friday.

The high-grade graphite may have been used to make rocket nozzles.

To circumvent export checks, it was described as low-grade when it was sent to a Turkish intermediary between 2005 and 2007, the prosecutors in Karlsruhe said. Alert Turkish customs officers stopped another 10 tons being trucked into Iran.

The January 7 indictment of the German, who runs a firm in Rhineland Palatinate state, was not announced at the time.

The man has been in custody since last June and is to face trial on 12 counts in the western city of Koblenz. His name has been withheld under privacy guidelines applied by the German media. (dpa)