U.S. sold parts for jets used by Iran

The Pentagon sold more than 1,000 aircraft parts that could be used on F-14 fighter jets -- a plane flown only by Iran -- after announcing it had halted sales of such surplus, government investigators said.

The Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, said the Defense Department had improved security in its surplus program to prevent improper sales of sensitive items.

But investigators found that about 1,400 parts that could be used on F-14 “Tomcat” fighter jets were sold to the public in February. That came after the Pentagon announced it had suspended sales of all parts that could be used on the Tomcat while it reviewed security concerns. It was not known whether any parts were sold to Iran.