A federal jury in the US found Iranian-born engineer Mahdi Sadeghi guilty of exporting technology usable in military drones, violating US sanctions on Iran. At the trial in Boston, the 43-year-old Sadeghi was convicted on three charges, including conspiracy to export technology to Iran.
The defendant was acquitted on two charges alleging violations of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. US District Judge Indira Talwani set Sadeghi's sentencing hearing for October 13. Defense attorneys declined to comment on the verdict, but had previously argued that their client was innocent and had no reason to commit a crime that would jeopardize the life he had built in the US.
Connection to Iranian businessman and Jordan attack allegation
Prosecutors had charged Sadeghi alongside Iranian businessman Mohammad Abedini, owner of a company in Iran that produces a navigation system used in military drones. According to the allegation, this system was used in an attack on a US outpost in Jordan in January 2024 that killed three US soldiers and wounded more than 40 others.
Abedini, who was arrested in Italy at the request of the US, was released in January 2025 after Iran detained an Italian journalist. The journalist was later freed as well. However, Sadeghi's trial did not include any charges related to the Jordan attack. The judge barred prosecutors from presenting evidence on that incident to avoid 'unfair prejudice'.
Procurement through Switzerland
The trial focused on efforts by Sadeghi, who worked at global semiconductor company Analog Devices, to supply technology, particularly sensors, to Abedini's firm SDRA in Iran. According to prosecutors, on Sadeghi's recommendation, Analog Devices began working with a company Abedini set up in Switzerland in 2019 and shipped electronic components to it. The company was allegedly used as a front to transfer the technology to Iran.
The defense argued that all business dealings were legitimate and transparent, and that the Swiss company was not a 'fake front' as prosecutors claimed, but a real firm focused on motion tracking technology.
Sadeghi's trial had been postponed for several months due to concerns about whether an impartial jury could be selected after the war in Iran began. Defense attorney Daniel Marx, in his opening statement on June 23, urged jurors to 'judge Mr. Sadeghi based on the evidence in this courtroom, not on what is happening in the rest of the world.'
