Two Iranian citizens arrested for fatal drone attack on US military personnel

Two individuals, respectively in the United States and Italy, have been arrested on charges of being involved in the January 28^th, 2024, drone strike on the Tower 22 outpost, on the northeast corner of Jordan, next to the Syrian border, that killed three US soldiers and injured more than 40.

The two detained men are Mahdi Mohammad Sadeghi (42), an Iranian-American citizen residing in Massachusetts and Mohammed Abedini (38), an Iranian-Swiss citizen who was arrested in Italy after landing at Milan’s Malpensa airport.

The US Department of Justice announced at a press conference that the two are accused of violating federal export laws by handing over sensitive US technology information to Iran that helped Teheran organize and conduct the attack.

As indicated in the December 16^th press release of the DOJ, Sadeghi and Abedini have been charged with conspiring to export sophisticated electronic components from the United States to Iran in violation of US export control and sanctions laws. Abedini is also charged with providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization (FTO), that resulted in the deaths of the three US service members.

Sadeghi worked for Norwood-based Analog Devices Inc., or ADI; a company that manufactures integrated circuits, software and subsystems products for the semiconductor industry and cofounded a second unnamed Massachusetts-based technology company specializing in wearable sensors used in fitness applications. Following Sadeghi’s arrest, Analog Devices Inc. confirmed that his contract was terminated and that he no longer had access to the company’s buildings and systems.

Around 2016, Sadeghi traveled to Iran to request funding for the company he cofounded from the Iranian National Elites Foundation (INEF), an Iranian governmental organization whose main purpose is to support Iran’s elite national talents. In addition, Sadeghi and others created a second company in Iran.

Sadeghi, through his newly founded Iranian company, interacted with Abedini’s company, Sanat Danesh Rahpooyan Aflak Co (SDRA), and helped him get US export-controlled electronic components for Abedini’s use in Iran.

As to Abedini, he is the co-founder (together with Kaveh Merat) and managing director of the previously cited Iranian company SDRA, created in 2011. Its main business is selling a proprietary navigation system, known as the Sepehr Navigation System, to the IRGC, which the United States designated as an FTO in April 2019. The primary application of SDRA’s Sepehr Navigation System is for use in UAVs, as well as cruise and ballistic missiles.

Abedini graduated from Sharif University, the most prestigious university in Teheran for STEM subjects, so much so that it has been nicknamed “the MIT of Iran”. It is an institution sanctioned by the European Union for its ties with the Iranian government, in particular with the Pasdaran, for the development of ballistic missiles.

After graduating in 2019, Abedini moved to Lausanne, Switzerland, to work as a postdoctoral researcher at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne. In the meantime, Abedini founded Illumove SA in Switzerland, a start-up registered at the Innovation Park of that same Swiss school, as a cover for his Iranian company, to continue purchasing components from the United States.

Abedini was apprehended on Monday, December 16^th, on US request, by the Italian police in Milan’s Malpensa airport after landing on a flight from Istanbul. The bilateral treaty requires that the extradition request be presented within 45 days of the arrest.

If convicted, both Abedini and Sadeghi could face sentences of up to 20 years. The case of the two arrested Iranians shows once again how the Iranian regime is using Western-based shell companies and individuals active in the field such as entrepreneurs and researchers to circumvent sanctions and build weapons to be used against the United States and Israel.

This is indeed a serious threat, and it requires tougher measures such as better background checks on Iranian individuals and companies wanting to operate in the West. For instance, if that had been the case with Abedini, it wouldn’t have been difficult to find out who he was and what he was up to. Therefore, learning from the Israeli experience about background checks would be recommended.

Secondly, tougher sanctions on countries and companies that do not comply with the directives against the Iranian regime are required. All European countries must follow the lead of the US, Canada, Australia, and some European countries such as Lithuania, and recognize the IRGC as a terrorist group. More intelligence cooperation and coordination between the US, the UK, the EU and Israel would also be essential.