The US has charged an Iranian and a Chinese national with allegedly supplying microelectronics to Iran for use in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ drone programme.
Hossein Hatefi Ardakani and Gary Lam, also known as Lin Jinghe, are accused in a September 2020 indictment unsealed on Tuesday of conspiring to illegally purchase and export US-made dual-use microelectronics to Iran.
“We remain focused on disrupting the efforts of Iran and its agents to circumvent US sanctions in support of Iran’s weapons programmes, including its drone programme, which have been used to support and supply terrorist organisations and other foreign adversaries – such as Russia – around the globe,” US attorney Matthew Graves said in a statement.
The US Treasury Department announced meanwhile that it was imposing sanctions on a network of 10 entities – led by Ardakani – and four individuals based in Iran, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Indonesia.
According to the 2020 indictment, Ardakani and his co-conspirators used foreign companies to evade US export controls on sensitive equipment.
“Between June and September 2015, Ardakani and Lam caused an unwitting French company to purchase from a US company several pieces of analogue-to-digital converters,” the Justice Department said.
The converters had applications in wireless and broadband communications, radar and satellite subsystems, antenna array positioning and infrared imaging, it said.
The Justice Department said Lam had a division of the French company ship the analogue-to-digital converters to Hong Kong where they were then re-exported to Iran.
“Ardakani and his co-conspirators crafted a sophisticated web of front companies to obscure the illicit acquisition of US and foreign technology to procure components for deadly UAVs,” special agent Michael Krol said.
These very components have been found in use by Iran’s allies in current conflicts, including in Ukraine.”
The Justice Department said Ardakani and Lam remain at large and are believed to live abroad.
The US Treasury said on Tuesday that the Ardakani-led international network it was targeting had facilitated the procurement of components worth hundreds of thousands of dollars for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Aerospace Force Self Sufficiency Jihad Organisation and its drone programme.
“Iran’s illicit production and proliferation of its deadly UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) to its terrorist proxies in the Middle East and to Russia continues to exacerbate tensions and prolong conflicts, undermining stability,” Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson said in a statement.
Washington has long accused Tehran of supplying such weapons to Russia for use in Ukraine. Iran denies providing Russia with drones for use in the country.