March 25, 2022
US prosecutors have charged a dual citizen of the US and Iran for a plot to illegally send high-tech electronics to the Islamic Republic, in the latest of many cases of sanctions violations.
Kambiz Attar Kashani, 44, was charged in federal court January 14 with conspiring between February 2019 and June 2021 to evade sanctions on Iran.
Brought in the federal court in Brooklyn, Kashani is accused of an “elaborate scheme” to deliver to Iran products that include subscriptions to proprietary software, fixed attenuators, power supplies and storage systems.
“We believe Mr. Kashani profited financially by strengthening the economy of one of the world’s most infamous state sponsors of terrorism, while circumventing critical US laws designed to protect our national security interests,” FBI Special Agent-in-Charge Joseph Bonavolonta said in a statement.
Kashani had roles in two unnamed companies in the United Arab Emirates that he used to purchase items from US companies and export to Iran, the complaint alleges. He and others suspected in the scheme filed paperwork saying the end users of the products would be based in the United Arab Emirates.
Kashani was arrested January 13 in Chicago and made his initial court appearance the next day.
