A federal court in the District of Columbia unsealed two indictments accusing numerous defendants of violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and the Arms Export Control Act (AECA) for their roles in various schemes to obtain and export American technology to Iran between 2005 and 2013.
“These defendants sought to obtain valuable U.S.- origin goods that could assist Iran’s military and WMD aspirations, and in some instances, they were successful. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and our federal law enforcement partners will zealously pursue those who break these laws and harm our national security interests, regardless of where in the world they operate,” U.S. Attorney Michael Graves said according to a press release issued on March 21.
With this disclosure, the Office of Foreign Assets Control at the Department of the Treasury designated three of the defendants and four businesses for their roles in the acquisition of machinery that aided Iran’s unmanned aerial vehicle and weapons programs.
Moroever, Amanallah Paidar, an Iranian defendant, and Murat Bükey, a Turkish defendant, conspired between 2012 and 2013 to obtain and export American technology for Iran through their respective businesses, Farazan Industrial Engineering in Iran and Ozon Spor Ve Hobbi Ürünleri in Turkey, the release reported.
In particular, Paidar and Bükey attempted to obtain a bio-detection system with applications in the development and use of weapons of mass destruction while exporting from the United States and transshipping through Turkey a device that can assess the effectiveness and power of fuel cells. In December 2022, Bükey, who had been extradited from Spain to the United States in July 2022, entered a plea of guilty to conspiring to break the AECA and IEEPA.
Agshar Mahmoudi, Bahram Mahmoudi Mahmoud Alilou, and Shahin Golshani, the defendants, were involved in a conspiracy between 2005 and 2009 to acquire American technology, including a high-speed camera with known uses for nuclear and ballistic missile testing, a nose landing gear assembly for an F-5 fighter jet, and a meteorological sensor system, through their companies Aran Modern Devices Kish Company in Iran and Modern Technologies in the United Arab Emirates.
The accused are still at large and considered fugitives, according to the release.
