Tehran, Iran (Credit: Shutterstock/vanchai tan)
A dual US and Iranian citizen has admitted shipping software and radio parts to Iran in breach of US sanctions and export controls.
Kambiz Attar Kashani pleaded guilty on 28 June at a federal court in Brooklyn to charges of conspiring to violate sanctions by shipping technology to Iran between 2019 and 2021.
Prosecutors alleged in an indictment filed in January that Kashani and unidentified co-conspirators purchased software subscriptions, power supplies and radio parts from four US companies and shipped them to a company linked to the Central Bank of Iran.
Kashani allegedly used two UAE companies as fronts to buy the tech and mislead US companies about his intention to ship the purchases to Iran, according to the complaint. Prosecutors allege that the Iranian company that received the goods is “the executive and technological arm” of Iran’s central bank, which provides IT services to all Iranian banks.
The US Treasury Department’s office of foreign assets control (OFAC) sanctioned Iran’s central bank in 2019 following an attack on a Saudi oilfield allegedly carried out by an Iran-funded terrorist group. OFAC alleged that between 2018 and 2019 the Central Bank of Iran facilitated the transfer of billions of dollars to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and millions more to Lebanese military group Hezbollah.
“Kashani repeatedly lied to numerous US companies to conceal his intention to ship items to Iran, allowing him to illegally obtain information technology for use by the CBI [Central Bank of Iran] and other Iranian entities,” said assistant attorney general for the National Security Division, Matthew Olsen, in a statement announcing the charges in January.
The DOJ said on Tuesday that Kashani has agreed to pay forfeiture and a $50,000 fine. The court has yet to set a date for his sentencing, where he will also face up to 20 years in prison.
Kashani’s lawyers did not respond to a request for comment.
Counsel to Kashani
Berliner Corcoran & Rowe
Partner William Coffield in Washington, DC
