Mahdi Mohammad Sadeghi, an Iranian national with U.S. citizenship, has been found guilty of helping smuggle drone parts to Iran that the Justice Department says have been used to kill U.S. servicemembers.
Sadeghi was arrested in 2024, along with an accomplice named Mohammad Abedini, for “conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization resulting in death,” following an Iranian drone attack that targeted a U.S. military base in Jordan. Sadeghi was also charged with violations of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and the Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations.
“On Jan. 28, 2024, three U.S. service members were killed, and more than 40 others were injured, in a drone attack by IRGC-backed militants on a military base located in northern Jordan, known as Tower 22,” the Department of Justice said. “According to court documents, analysis of the drone that was recovered from the site of the attack showed that the drone was an Iranian Shahed UAV and that the navigation system used in the drone was manufactured by Abedini’s company.”
The Department of Justice stated that Sadeghi and Abedini tricked American technology companies such as Sadeghi’s employer Analog Devices into supplying “sophisticated semiconductors” and other parts that were used in navigation modules for the military drone program of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. This was done through a front company established in Switzerland called Illumove SA, which sent drone parts to Abedini’s Iran-backed company.
“At its core, this case is straightforward. You cannot send goods, especially the goods at issue in this case, to Iran. Period. Full stop,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Alathea Porter told the jury during Sadeghi’s trial. “The defendant knew that, and conspired with Mr. Abedini to do that.”
William Fick and Daniel Marx, Sadeghi’s defense attorneys, alleged that Sadeghi was not procuring parts for Abedini, but merely gave his friend general business advice. They also disputed the claims about the Swiss company being a front and the parts from Sadeghi and Abedini ending up in Iran at all.
“He had nothing to gain and everything to lose,” Fick said. “He has lived in the country for decades. He was a well-regarded, respected employee on his way up in the company.”
The judge sided with the defense and ruled that the prosecution could not use any evidence of the drone components being used to target American troops, and must instead rely on general evidence about the drone parts going to Iran.
The trial was delayed for multiple months on the belief that the war in Iran would significantly bias the jury. Marx made sure the jury would not conflate Sadeghi’s case with the news they heard about Iran, saying, “Judge Mr. Sadeghi based on the evidence in this courtroom, not what is going on in the rest of the world,” Reuters reported.
Abedini was arrested in Italy upon request of the United States, but was exchanged for an Italian journalist who was arrested in Iran. He is believed to still be in Iran, thus escaping prosecution.
U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani has scheduled Sadeghi’s sentencing for October 13.
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