Nevada Man Pleads Guilty to Conspiring to Export Tank Helmets to Iran

Richard Lant, a Nevada resident, pleaded guilty on Oct. 3 to conspiracy to illegally export tank helmets to Iran, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of California announced. From May to October 2015, Lant and other co-conspirators, including Dariush Niknia, who pleaded guilty in September, worked to illegally sell 500 of the Russian-made tank helmets to Niknia's Iranian customer. The helmets were made for Russian-made T-72S battle tanks and have a "five-pin plug" feature needed for compatibility with a tank communication device, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

Niknia first contacted Lant and his company, R&L Ltd., to buy sample helmets in May 2015 and planned to ship the items from Russia to Iran, DOJ said. Even though both Lant and Niknia were "told that the United States’ sanctions prohibited the shipment of items to Iran," the agency said they still proceeded with the transaction.

After Niknia's customer rejected the first sample helmet but approved the second, the customer sent an email saying the helmets would also be inspected by the "GOI," which DOJ said stands for the government of Iran.

Niknia then asked Lant to send the helmets "50 at a time" to Iran, and paid Lant for the first shipment. But the deal "fell apart" before more helmets were sent because R&L couldn't ship the helmets "in the quantities and timeframe Niknia required." According to DOJ, the company's Russian supplier said the "difficulties stemmed from the fact that it was illegal to both sell large quantities of tank helmets and to send modern military items to countries such as Iran that might use them in 'terroristic or any war ways.'"

DOJ said it discovered the conspiracy from an industry tip. Niknia had contacted another online seller of Russian military items before reaching out to Lant, but that seller reported Niknia to the FBI.

Niknia and Lant both face a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine for conspiracy to export to an embargoed country. Their sentencing hearings are scheduled for Dec. 5, 2022, and Jan. 9, 2023, respectively.