Dual U.S.-Iranian CEO Arrested for Supplying U.S. Tech to Iran Nuclear and Military Programs

A dual U.S.-Iranian national and CEO of an Iran-based technology company was arrested June 3 on a federal criminal complaint in an unnamed U.S. district court, the Justice Department announced.

The defendant is charged with violating U.S. sanctions against Iran by acquiring sophisticated U.S.-origin networking, security, and encryption equipment and supplying it to Iranian customers that include the regime’s nuclear and military establishments. The complaint alleges the equipment reached entities tied to Iran’s most sensitive programs.

The arrest marks the latest enforcement action targeting procurement networks that circumvent American export controls on dual-use technology. It affects any Iranian government or military-linked customer that received the controlled items, as well as the broader U.S. sanctions regime designed to block such transfers.

The precise volume and dollar value of equipment supplied were not disclosed in the charging document.

The case shifts the operational reality for sanctions enforcement by converting an intelligence-identified procurement channel into an active criminal prosecution. Federal investigators must now trace the precise supply chain, identify additional co-conspirators, and seize any remaining U.S.-origin items still in Iran.

The prosecution will require the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control to coordinate on any related designations, while the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security will review licensing policies for similar networking and encryption hardware.

Courts will next set a detention or release hearing and a schedule for discovery and trial.

This arrest follows a pattern of DOJ actions against dual nationals and Iran-based firms accused of procuring restricted U.S. technology for prohibited end-users. The original sanctions framework prohibiting such transfers was expanded under multiple administrations, most recently through updated executive orders and Commerce Department rules tightening controls on advanced electronics destined for Iran’s nuclear and ballistic-missile programs.

The defendant faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison if convicted on the primary sanctions violation count.