An Iranian-American man was arrested in Chicago on Friday for an alleged conspiracy to send U.S. technology and services to users in Iran, including the Iranian government.
Kambiz Attar Kashani, 44, is being charged with violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) for allegedly conspiring to export goods and technology to the Central Bank of Iran (CBI), a government agency, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ). The DOJ is also accusing Kashani of lying to multiple U.S. companies to hide his conspiracy.
From February 2019 to June 2021, authorities said Kashani and his co-conspirators used companies in the UAE and Brooklyn, New York, to send goods to users in Iran without obtaining licenses from the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). Kashani and his partners allegedly claimed the shipments were intended for companies in the UAE.
“Kashani and his co-conspirators procured U.S.-origin goods and information technology for ultimate use in Iran, including for use by the Government of Iran,” said Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division. “Kashani repeatedly lied to numerous U.S. companies to conceal his intention to ship items to Iran, allowing him to illegally obtain information technology for use by the CBI and other Iranian entities. The Justice Department continues to do everything it can to end the illegal export of items that threaten our national security.”
The CBI has been designated by the U.S. government as an institution “acting for or on behalf of terrorist organizations.” It has supported Lebanese Hizballah and the Qods Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), the terrorist arm of the Iranian government.
While the Justice Department did not say the technology being transferred to the Iranian government was going to be used for terrorism, the FBI noted it’s a possibility. “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 E. 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.”
Kashani’s arrest comes as Iran continues to threaten violence against the U.S. Last week, IRGC Commander-in-Chief Admiral Ali Fadavi said that Iran is planning an attack on the U.S. “This is the status of the Americans, this is the status of the enemies of Allah, and this is the status of those who stand with the Axis of Falsehood,” Fadavi remarked while talking about the 2016 incident when Iran held American sailors captive for hours. “We do not have the slightest doubt that at the right time, when we strike America – the Great Satan – and its Zionist followers, we will strike them with great force.”
IRGC Deputy Chief Admiral Ali Fadavi: At the Right Time, When We Strike America, the Great Satan, and Israel, It Will Be with Great Force; If Israel Acts Against Us, We Will Turn Tel Aviv into Dust #Iran #IRGC #JCPOA pic.twitter.com/z90L1Nz4LQ
— MEMRI (@MEMRIReports) January 10, 2022
Only a few days later, the official website for Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei released a video depicting the assassination of former President Donald Trump at his home in Mar-a-Lago, Florida. The video was a response to the killing of the former commander of the IRCG Quds Force Qassem Soleimani last year.
https://t.co/CrLpUB1Uvr publishes “one of selected works in Hero Campaign”
Named “Revenge Is Definite,” animation shows former U.S. Secretary of State Pompeo & President Trump being targeted by LAW and drone while playing golf at Mar-a-Lago referred to as “Trump’s House” pic.twitter.com/zHS3ktGYKZ— Sobhan Hassanvand 📰 سبحان حسنوند (@Hassanvand) January 13, 2022