Eleven Defendants Charged In Scheme to Export Military Aircraft Parts to Iran

In yet another criminal case involving the prohibited exports of military aircraft to Iran, the Justice Department announced today that an Iranian national has been arrested and charged, along with ten other defendants, with participating in a conspiracy to military aircraft parts from the U.S. to Iran.

Mr. Baktash Fattahi, an Iranian national and legal U.S. resident, was arrested in California, on April 3, 2009, on charges of conspiring to export military aircraft parts to Iran. Fattahi and ten other defendants were indicted on April 2, 2009, by a federal grand jury in Miami on charges of conspiring to violate U.S. export controls and sanctions laws for their participation in a conspiracy to export U.S.-made military aircraft parts to Iran.

The other defendants charged in the indictment were persons and companies located in Iran and Dubai.

According to the indictment, the defendants conspired to and exported 13 different types of ITAR-controlled aircraft parts from the U.S. to Iran via Dubai, UAE. Among the aircraft parts the defendants are alleged to have obtained and illegally shipped to buyers in Iran are parts for the F-5 Tiger fighter jet, the Bell AH-1 Cobra attack helicopter, the CH-53 helicopter, the F-14 Tomcat fighter jet, and the UH-1 Huey military helicopter.

If convicted, each of the defendants face statutory maximum sentences ranging from ten years' imprisonment to twenty years' imprisonment, and face fines of up to $1 million.