By admin 
A federal jury in Boston convicted a Massachusetts man on charges tied to a scheme to illegally export sensitive U.S. electronic components to Iran, the Justice Department said.
Mahdi Mohammad Sadeghi, 43, a dual U.S.-Iranian national from Natick, was found guilty following a 14-day trial on one count of conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and the Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations, along with two substantive counts of violating those laws, prosecutors said. U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani set sentencing for Oct. 13.
Sadeghi was first charged by criminal complaint in December 2024 alongside Mohammad Abedininajafabadi, also known as Mohammad Abedini, of Tehran, and the two were later indicted by a federal grand jury, with a superseding indictment filed in December 2025, according to court documents. Abedini remains a fugitive.
Assistant Attorney General John A. Eisenberg said the verdict reflects the National Security Division’s commitment to enforcing sanctions against Iran, adding that Sadeghi conspired to send sensitive microelectronic parts to Iran through a European company despite having received training on U.S. sanctions and export law. U.S. Attorney Leah B. Foley for the District of Massachusetts said Sadeghi exploited his access to sophisticated American technology to help circumvent sanctions, while FBI officials in Boston and at headquarters said the case should serve as a warning to others who might attempt similar schemes.
According to court documents, Abedini is the founder and managing director of the Iranian company San’at Danesh Rahpooyan Aflak Co., which manufactures navigation modules used in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps military drone program. Prosecutors said Sadeghi helped procure U.S.-origin components — including accelerometers, gyroscopes and inertial measurement units — that were exported through a Swiss front company for the benefit of Abedini’s company. Court documents say certain components were the same types used in the company’s Sepehr Navigation System, which is used in Iranian one-way attack drones as well as cruise and ballistic missiles.
Court documents also cited the Jan. 28, 2024, drone attack on the U.S. military base known as Tower 22 in northern Jordan, which killed three American service members and injured more than 40 others. An analysis of the recovered drone reportedly found it was an Iranian Shahed UAV equipped with a navigation system manufactured by Abedini’s company.
Each IEEPA and ITSR violation, and the related conspiracy charge, carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $1 million, the Justice Department said. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jared C. Dolan and Alathea E. Porter of the District of Massachusetts’ National Security Unit, along with Trial Attorney Leslie Esbrook of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section.
Abedini has not been convicted and is presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
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