Mahdi Sadeghi, a dual U.S.-Iranian national, appears in an 2024 photo that federal prosecutors in Boston, Mass., obtained from his phone and included in a court filing on Jan. 13, 2025 that depicts Sadeghi with two other individuals, including Mohammad Abedini, who remains a fugitive. U.S. Department of Justice/Handout via Reuters

An Iranian-born man was convicted in federal court of conspiring to illegally export sensitive U.S.-made electronic components to Iran, in violation of U.S. sanctions, the Justice Department announced Tuesday. The components were used in Iranian military drones.

Mahdi Mohammad Sadeghi, 43, a dual U.S.-Iranian national of Natick, Massachusetts, was found guilty following a 14-day jury trial of conspiracy and two counts of violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and the Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations. He is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 13.

Prosecutors said Sadeghi, a dual U.S.-Iranian national, worked with Mohammad Abedini, an Iranian businessman who remains a fugitive, to obtain sophisticated U.S.-made electronic components and route them through a Switzerland front company. From there, the electronic components were shipped to San'at Danesh Rahpooyan Aflak Co. (SDRA), an Iranian company that manufactures navigation systems used in military drones and missiles for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

According to the Department of Justice (DOJ), analysis of an Iranian drone recovered after the Jan. 28, 2024, Tower 22 attack in Jordan, which killed three U.S. service members and wounded more than 40 others, found it contained a navigation system manufactured by Abedini’s company.

“This guilty verdict demonstrates the National Security Division’s commitment to holding accountable those who violate U.S. sanctions against Iran,” Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg said in a press release. “For years, Sadeghi conspired to and did send sensitive microelectronic parts from the United States to Iran through a company in Europe despite receiving training on U.S. sanctions and export law. The National Security Division will continue to pursue those who, through unlawful export and deception, threaten our national security.”

William Fick, Sadeghi’s attorney, didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

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According to court documents, the exported components included accelerometers, gyroscopes, and inertial measurement units that are subject to U.S. export controls. The Justice Department said the Iranian company supplied navigation systems used in drones and other weapons systems.

Sadeghi traveled to Iran in 2016 seeking funding from the Iranian National Elites Foundation for a Massachusetts-based wearable technology company, according to the DOJ.

After receiving funding, he and others formed a second company in Iran, which later entered into a contract with SDRA to purchase its technology. Prosecutors said Sadeghi helped Abedini procure U.S. export-controlled electronic components beginning in 2016.

To evade U.S. sanctions, Abedini established a Swiss front company, Illumove SA, which was used to acquire sophisticated U.S.-made semiconductors and other electronic components before they were transferred to Iran.

“This verdict should serve as a wake-up call to those in corporate America that if you violate our country’s export laws, you will not get away with it,” Special Agent in Charge Ted E. Docks of the FBI Boston Field Office said. “Mahdi Mohammad Sadeghi learned this the hard way when he conspired to send electronic components to Iran, one of the world’s most infamous state sponsors of terrorism. There’s no question Mr. Sadeghi put his own personal interests ahead of our country’s best interests.”

Sadeghi faces up to 20 years in prison on each count.

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