WASHINGTON - Nuclear weapons? No way. But there are plenty of items on Iran's shopping list that the United States is more than happy to supply: cigarettes, bras, bull semen and more.

U.S. exports to Iran grew more than tenfold during President Bush's years in office even as he accused it of nuclear ambitions and sponsoring terrorists. America sent more cigarettes to Iran -- at least $158 million worth under Bush -- than any other product.

Other surprising shipments to Iran during the Bush administration: fur clothing, sculptures, perfume, musical instruments and maybe even rifles.

The top states shipping goods to Iran include North Carolina, California, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, New Jersey, Ohio and Wisconsin, according to an analysis by The Associated Press of seven years of U.S. government trade data.

Despite increasingly tough rhetoric toward Iran, which Bush has called part of an "axis of evil," U.S. trade in a range of goods has survived on-again, off-again sanctions imposed nearly three decades ago.

The rules allow sales of agricultural commodities, medicine and a few other categories of goods. The exemptions are designed to help Iranian families even as the U.S. pressures Iran's leaders.

"I understand that these exports have increased," Gonzalo Gallegos, a State Department spokesman, said Tuesday.

"However, we believe that they are increasing to a segment of the population that we want to reach out to, we want to know and understand that the U.S. government, the U.S. people want to be friends with them, want to work with them to integrate them into the world economy and become partners in the future."

The government tracks exports to Iran using details from shipping records. Sanctions are intended in part to frustrate Iran's efforts to build its military.

Weapons sent to Iran

However U.S. government figures show that at least $148,000 worth of unspecified weapons and other military gear were exported from the U.S. to Iran during Bush's time in office. That includes $106,635 in military rifles and $8,760 in rifle parts and accessories in 2004, data show.

Also shipped to Iran were at least $13,000 in "aircraft launching gear and/or deck arrestors," equipment needed to launch jets from aircraft carriers, according to U.S. records. Iran's navy is not thought to own or operate carriers.

The numbers may seem small, but military items can sell for pennies on the dollar compared with what the Pentagon paid. Last year, federal agents seized four F-14 fighter jets sold to domestic buyers by an officer at Point Mugu Naval Air Station, Calif., for $2,000 to $4,000 each, with proceeds benefiting a squadron recreation fund. New F-14s cost $38 million each.

Adam Szubin, director of the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, which enforces the sanctions, said it was unlikely that exports of military gear occurred. However, he said the government was looking into it after The AP raised questions. He said shipping records are subject to human error, such as citing the wrong commodity codes or recording "Iran" as the destination rather than "Iraq." The Treasury Department said Monday that it was checking to see whether it could offer an explanation.

Iran is a hot issue in Washington. The U.S. House plans a hearing today on U.S. policy toward Iran, and the Bush administration announced Tuesday that it was freezing the U.S. assets of several people and entities accused of helping Iran develop nuclear weapons.

But the U.S. government seems uncoordinated on efforts to limit trade with Iran.

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