Iranian in Massachusetts convicted of violating US sanctions against Iran

By Bethany Blankley
The Center Square

An Iranian businessman has been convicted in federal court in Boston, Mass., after a 14-day jury trial for charges related to violating U.S. sanctions against Iran.

Iranian-born Mahdi Mohammad Sadeghi, a resident of Natick, Mass., and Mohammad Abedini of Tehran, Iran, were charged in federal court in Boston in 2024 “with conspiring to export sophisticated electronic components from the United States to Iran in violation of U.S. export control and sanctions laws.”

Abedini was also charged with providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The IRGC was designated as an FTO in 2019 by the U.S. government, The Center Square reported.

The electronics that were exported were used in an Iranian drone attack that killed three U.S. service members and wounded 40 at a U.S. Army base in Jordan on Jan. 28, 2024.

Sadeghi was convicted on multiple counts of violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and the Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations (ITSR), the Department of Justice announced.

The conviction came after local and state government sanctuary city policies were implemented to shield illegal foreign nationals from deportation and prohibit taxpayer-funded employees and law enforcement officers from enforcing the law and working with federal counterparts.

Within 48 hours of Sadeghi’s arrest, Natick’s Select Board members unanimously passed a sanctuary city policy to prohibit taxpayer-funded employees from inquiring about or collecting information about residents’ citizenship status, The Center Square reported. This was after the Boston City Council passed the Boston Trust Act prohibiting Boston police from cooperating with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Multiple local sanctuary city policies were implemented statewide after an unprecedented number of Iranian and “Special Interest Aliens” were apprehended after illegally entering the U.S., The Center Square reported.

They were also implemented after Islamic terrorist incidents increased under former President Joe Biden and as he extended a national emergency regarding Iran. The U.S. has been in a perpetual state of national emergency related to Iran since Nov. 14, 1979, The Center Square reported.

Despite Massachusetts sanctuary policies, Sadeghi and Abedini were twice indicted by a federal grand jury in December 2024 and in December 2025.

Sadeghi’s “guilty verdict demonstrates the National Security Division’s commitment to holding accountable those who violate U.S. sanctions against Iran,” Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Eisenberg said in a statement. “For years, Sadeghi conspired to and did send sensitive microelectronic parts from the United States to Iran through a company in Europe despite receiving training on U.S. sanctions and export law. The National Security Division will continue to pursue those who, through unlawful export and deception, threaten our national security.”

According to the charges, Abedini is the founder and managing director of San’at Danesh Rahpooyan Aflak Co. (SDRA), an Iranian-based company that manufactures drones for the IRGC. SDRA’s main business is the sale of proprietary Sepehr Navigation System drones as well as cruise and ballistic missiles to the IRGC, according to the complaint.

For years, Sadeghi and others conspired to evade U.S. export control and sanctions laws by procuring goods, services and technology from American companies to export them to Iran and Abedini’s Iranian company in violation of federal law, according to the charges.

Sadeghi worked for a Massachusetts-based microelectronics manufacturer and also founded a Massachusetts-based technology company that specializes in wearable sensors that provide kinetic monitoring for fitness applications, the complaint states.

To skirt U.S. export restrictions, Abedini created a Switzerland-based front company for SDRA to enter into a contract with Sadeghi’s company, transferring electronic components and products from the U.S. through Switzerland to Iran, according to the charges. The electronic components were the same ones used in SDRA’s Sepehr Navigation System, according to the complaint.

Abedini also provided material support to the IRGC Aerospace Force, Iran’s strategic missile, air and space force, according to the charges. Between 2021 and 2022, approximately 99% of SDRA’s sales of the Sepehr Navigation System, which are used in IRGC one-way attack drones, were to the IRGC’s Aerospace Force, according to the charges.

On Jan. 28, 2024, three U.S. service members were killed and more than 40 were injured, in a drone attack by IRGC-backed militants in Jordan. An analysis of a drone recovered from the site found that it was an Iranian Shahed UAV and the navigation system used to operate the drone was manufactured by Abedini’s company, according to court documents.

Convictions of violating the IEEPA and ITSR carry sentences of up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $1 million. Sadeghi’s sentencing is scheduled for October.

Abedini remains a fugitive wanted by U.S. authorities.