Two men have been charged in Boston federal court for allegedly exporting U.S. technology to Iran, which was used in a January drone attack in Jordan that killed three American soldiers and injured over 40 others.
The Justice Department identified the accused as Mahdi Mohammad Sadeghi, 42, a dual U.S.-Iranian citizen from Natick, Massachusetts, and Mohammad Abedininajafabadi (also known as Mohammad Abedini), 38, from Iran. Sadeghi was arrested in Massachusetts on Monday, while Abedini was taken into custody in Italy, where U.S. officials are seeking his extradition.
The charges stem from a January 28 attack at Tower 22, a U.S. base in Jordan near the Syrian and Iraqi borders. The drone, launched by Iran-backed militants, struck troop living quarters, killing Sgt. William Rivers (46), Spc. Kennedy Sanders (24), and Spc. Breonna Moffett (23), all members of a Georgia-based Army Reserve unit.
Prosecutors say the men conspired to bypass U.S. export laws to send sensitive electronic components to Iran. Abedini’s company, SDRA, produced the Sepehr Navigation System found in the Iranian Shahed UAV drone that carried out the attack. To evade sanctions, Abedini allegedly used a front company in Switzerland to acquire the components from Sadeghi’s employer, a Massachusetts semiconductor firm.
Abedini is also charged with providing material support to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which U.S. officials blame for orchestrating the drone program. If convicted, Sadeghi and Abedini face up to 20 years in prison for export violations. Abedini also faces a potential life sentence for supporting a foreign terrorist organization.
The attack, which occurred amid rising tensions in the Middle East, led to U.S. retaliatory strikes on over 85 targets linked to the IRGC and Iran-backed militias in Iraq and Syria.
Attorney General Merrick Garland said the arrests show the U.S. will “hold accountable those who enable the Iranian regime to target and kill Americans.”
