In relation to a deadly drone strike in Jordan earlier this year that left three American service personnel dead and numerous more injured, two men have been prosecuted in a federal court in Boston.
Prosecutors in Massachusetts announced Monday that Mahdi Mohammad Sadeghi, 42, a dual U.S.-Iranian national from Natick, Massachusetts, and Mohammad Abedininajafabadi, also known as Mohammad Abedini, 38, of Iran, were accused of conspiring to export electronic components to Iran in violation of U.S. export laws.
Abedini was also accused of giving material assistance to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a foreign terrorist group.
Prosecutors said that the individuals planned to circumvent U.S. sanctions and provide the Iranian government with drone navigation technology that was utilized in the drone attack on the Tower 22 station in Jordan, a U.S. military outpost, on January 28.
Prosecutors noted in a news release that the drone seized from the attack scene was an Iranian Shahed UAV and that it was equipped with a navigation system called the Sepehr Navigation System, which was produced by Abedini’s company.
Three American service men were killed when the drone, which was launched by terrorists supported by the IRGC, struck close to a shelter where several troops were sleeping. Additionally, about 40 persons were hurt.
Prosecutors claim that Abedini is the mastermind and founder of San at Danesh Rahpooyan Aflak Co., or SDRA, an Iranian business that produces navigation modules for the IRGC’s military drone program.
Selling the navigation system to the IRGC, which is subsequently utilized in unmanned aerial vehicles, cruise, and ballistic missiles, is SDRA’s primary business.
In contrast, Sadeghi works for a microelectronics manufacturer in Massachusetts and is one of the founders of a technology firm based in Massachusetts that focuses on wearable sensors that offer kinetic monitoring for fitness applications. The Iranian government had given him money for the business he helped start.
The two individuals allegedly plotted to steal technology and supplies from Sadeghi’s workplace, export them, and then deliver them to Abedini’s Iranian business, SDRA, in Iran.
According to the prosecution, Sadeghi has assisted Abedini in obtaining U.S. export-controlled electronic components for Abedini’s use in Iran on several occasions since or around 2016.
Abedini allegedly set up a Swiss front company for SDRA named Illumove SA because of U.S. regulations that limit shipments to Iran.
Both individuals are accused of breaking U.S. export regulations, but Abedini is also accused of materially aiding the IRGC Aerospace arm, the IRGC’s strategic air, space, and missile arm, a foreign terrorist group.
Since at least 2014, SDRA has worked on several projects with the IRGC Aerospace Force, such as integrated navigation systems and guided missiles. As alleged, between 2021 and 2022, approximately 99% of SDRA s sales of the Sepehr Navigation System, which are used in IRGC one-way attack drones, were to the IRGC s Aerospace Force, the news release said.
Sadeghi is being kept pending a detention court scheduled on December 27 after being arrested on Monday. Abedini was also arrested Monday in Italy at the request of the United States.
A public defender assigned to Sadeghi has been contacted by NBC News. Abedini has yet to hire a lawyer in the United States. When he will be brought to the United States to face charges is unknown.
Attorney General Merrick Garland said the arrests demonstrate that the Justice Department will hold accountable those who enable the Iranian regime to continue to target and kill Americans and undermine the national security of the United States.
Joshua S. Levy, the United States attorney for the District of Massachusetts, said the allegations against the two men make clear the grievous harm that can result when highly sophisticated American technologies subject to export controls end up in the hands of our adversaries.
The men, if convicted, each face up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $1 million on the conspiracy to violate export laws charge. Abedini further faces up to life in prison, up to a lifetime of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000 on the charge of conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization resulting in death.
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