The Department of Justice indicted two men who allegedly procured microelectronics for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) that could be used in unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) attacks.
Iranian national Hossein Hatefi Ardakani and co-defendant Gary Lam (identified by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) as Lin Jinghe), were charged with the crime. Lam reportedly worked for a Chinese company. The microelectronics were designated to be used by the IRGC Aerospace Force Self Sufficiency Jihad Organization’s (ASF SSJO) one-way attack UAV program, the DOJ stated. The microelectronics included high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs), monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) power amplifiers, and analog-to-digital converters.
“Today’s coordinated action with the Treasury Department demonstrates the Justice Department’s commitment to keeping military-grade equipment out of the hands of the Iranian regime,” said Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division. “We will aggressively investigate, disrupt, and hold accountable criminal networks that supply sensitive technology to hostile and repressive governments in contravention of U.S. sanctions.”
The deadly and repressive IRGC serves as the military right arm of the despotic Iranian theocratic government; it was been labeled a foreign terrorist organization (FTO) by the U.S. State Department in 2019. The IRGC was established by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in May 1979 after the Islamic Revolution, and has brutally targeted Iran’s own citizens when they protest against the government. When the U.S. designated IRGC a terrorist group in 2019, it was the first time the U.S. had designated the military branch of a foreign country in this manner.
The Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act stated, “The IRGC, not just the IRGC-QF [the Qods Force, the Guard’s extraterritorial branch], is responsible for implementing Iran’s international program of destabilizing activities, support for acts of international terrorism, and ballistic missile program.”
“U.S. technology has zero place in Iranian UAVs,” Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement Matthew S. Axelrod of the Department of Commerce added. “As these allegations demonstrate, those who procure dual-use microelectronics for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps will be held accountable.”
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“Ardakani and his co-conspirators crafted a sophisticated web of front companies to obscure the illicit acquisition of U.S. and foreign technology to procure components for deadly UAVs,” Special Agent in Charge Michael J. Krol of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) New England explained. “These very components have been found in use by Iran’s allies in current conflicts, including in Ukraine. The disruption of these criminal networks by Homeland Security Investigations means that hundreds of thousands of critical UAV components will never again be used for malign purposes.”
Ardakani and Lam are charged with conspiracy to export U.S. goods to Iran and to defraud the United States, a possible five-year sentence; unlawfully exporting and attempting to export goods to Iran, a possible 20-year sentence, and conspiracy to engage in international money laundering, also a possible 20-year sentence.