Man Charged with Smuggling Tech Exports to Iran

A US citizen has been charged with violating sanctions by exporting IT goods and services to Iran.

Kambiz Attar Kashani, 44, who also holds Iranian citizenship, was arrested last Friday and charged with conspiring to illegally export to the Central Bank of Iran (CBI).

He allegedly acted as principal for two United Arab Emirates (UAE) companies, set up to procure the technology from US companies from around February 2019 to June 2021. Kashani and his co-conspirators are said to have lied about the final destination of these exports, claiming they would be used by the UAE firms.

The technology in question included several fixed attenuators, common electrical components found in radio frequency (RF) products. Also “exported” were subscriptions to open-source operating systems, several network storage systems and six power supplies.

A license was also purchased from a US company that produces software allowing large organizations to “develop and deploy proprietary, internal-use applications to their employees,” according to court documents.

Kashani is being charged with violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). The US Treasury’s powerful Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) previously classified CBI as a Specially Designated National (SDN), indicating that the bank is acting for or on behalf of terrorist organizations.

That’s because of its support for Lebanese Hizballah and the Qods Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).

Kashani is charged with one count of conspiracy to unlawfully export goods to Iran, which carries a maximum jail term of 20 years and a $1m fine.

“Technology illegally transferred to Iran from the United States could be used by terrorists, which is why the FBI and its partners devote significant resources to these investigations,” said assistant director Alan Kohler Jr. of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division.

“Those doing the bidding for Iran in the United States should expect the full force of our law enforcement and intelligence community partners.