Two Iranian Men Charged With Illegally Exporting US Computer Servers

Two Iranian men were charged in a conspiracy to illegally export computer servers to Iran, the Justice Department said Sept. 28. Ebrahim Azadegan and Alireza Alvandi were charged with violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and the Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations when they allegedly tried to ship the servers without licenses. The servers are classified as dual-use goods under the Commerce Control List and are export controlled for anti-terrorism and national security reasons.

Azadegan and Alvandi worked with another person, Johnny Tourino, and a company, Spectra Equipment, to hide the destination of the shipments from a U.S. manufacturer by saying the exports were intended for Slovenia, the Justice Department said. The agency said the shipments were destined for Bank Mellat, an Iranian financial institution. The Justice Department said Azadegan and Alvandi may face up to 190 years in prison, the statutory maximum sentence for the 10 charges in the indictment. Both are “believed to be in Iran,” the agency said.