Prison Sentence for Iranian National Convicted of Exporting Military Sensitive Items to Iran

Iranian national Mehrdad Ansari, a resident of the United Arab Emirates and Germany, was sentenced Sept. 14, after a May 2021 conviction by a federal jury (see 2105100007), to 63 months in prison for violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, the Department of Justice said. Ansari was convicted for his role in a scheme to obtain military sensitive parts for Iran in violation of the Iranian Trade Embargo, DOJ said. This scheme sought to obtain many dual-use military and civilian goods that could be used for many elements of Iran's armed forces, including for “nuclear weapons, missile guidance and development, secure tactical radio communications, offensive electronic warfare, military electronic countermeasures (radio jamming) and radar warning and surveillance systems,” DOJ said.

Ansari attempted to transship testing equipment using his companies, Gulf Gate Sea Cargo and Global Merchant, both located in Dubai, DOJ said. Ansari's co-defendants, Taiwan citizen Susan Yip and Iran citizen Mehrdad Foomanie, allegedly obtained the equipment. Yip and Foomanie obtained over $2.6 million worth of parts without telling the merchants that the parts were to be shipped to Iran.

“The Iranian Trade Embargo serves an important purpose in the protection of the United States and our allies,” said U.S. Attorney Ashley Hoff for the Western District of Texas. “As prosecutors tasked with enforcing federal law, we will continue to identify, investigate and pursue violations of the IEEPA.”