An Iranian man who secretly pleaded guilty to plotting to ship sensitive US military technology to Iran will be sentenced this month, federal authorities said on Wednesday.
Authorities also said the suspect told an undercover investigator that Iran’s leaders believe war is coming.
Amir Hossein Ardebili faces up to 140 years in prison after pleading guilty to charges that include conspiracy, money laundering, smuggling and arms export control violations. His case was the latest example of what US officials have described as an intense effort by Iran to evade export controls and acquire critical military technology amid a long-running standoff with the West over its nuclear program.
Ardebili’s defense attorney, Edmund Lyons, did not immediately return a telephone message Wednesday.
John Morton, assistant secretary for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said last week that an alleged Belgian arms dealer pleaded guilty in federal court in Alabama to charges of conspiring to export fighter jet engines and parts to Iran.
“There is no question that there is an orchestrated effort by the government of Iran to acquire weapons in violation of our laws,” he said.
“Unfortunately, there’s a whole network of these guys out there, ... and not just on behalf of Iran,” Morton said.
Prosecutors said the guilty plea and other details have been kept secret until now because of an ongoing investigation.
Ardebili gave a stark explanation for why he was trying to buy different weapons parts, including technology that would help protect Iran from missile attacks.
“By his own admission, Ardebili was assisting Iran in preparing for war with the United States,” prosecutor David Hall wrote in a sentencing memorandum.
Court papers also said that during a 2007 meeting with an undercover agent, Ardebili said he wanted so much material so “the government [of Iran] could defend ... Because they think the war is coming.”
Last month, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad hinted at a link between the Ardebili case and that of three young Americans seized by Iran after they crossed the border from northern Iraq. The US and their families said the three are innocent hikers who strayed into Iran accidentally, but Iran has accused them of espionage and could put them on trial.
At a Nov. 9 news conference, Ahmadinejad said Iran’s judiciary would deal with the US hikers — then noted that Iran accuses the US of holding several of its citizens.
According to court papers, Ardebili worked as a procurement agent for the Iranian government and acquired thousands of components, including military aircraft parts, night vision devices, communications equipment and Kevlar. Federal authorities targeted him in 2004 after he contacted an undercover storefront set up in Philadelphia to investigate illegal arms trafficking.
Weiss said that in working with undercover agents, Ardebili’s primary interest was in obtaining electrical components with military applications.
Authorities said Ardebili had made wire transfers to bank accounts in Delaware and Massachusetts as part of an effort to illegally acquire the technology.
Ardebili also tried to obtain replacement computer systems to update Iran’s fleet of aging F-4 fighter aircraft, authorities said.
After years of telephone and e-mail communications with the undercover agents, Ardebili finally agreed to meet them in the Caucasus nation of Georgia, where he was arrested in October 2007 and his laptop seized.
“There are a number of transactions that are disclosed on the defendant’s laptop,” Weiss said.
Sentencing is set for Dec. 14.
Archeologists in Peru on Thursday said they found the 5,000-year-old remains of a noblewoman at the sacred city of Caral, revealing the important role played by women in the oldest center of civilization in the Americas. “What has been discovered corresponds to a woman who apparently had elevated status, an elite woman,” archeologist David Palomino said. The mummy was found in Aspero, a sacred site within the city of Caral that was a garbage dump for more than 30 years until becoming an archeological site in the 1990s. Palomino said the carefully preserved remains, dating to 3,000BC, contained skin, part of the
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
TRUMP EFFECT: The win capped one of the most dramatic turnarounds in Canadian political history after the Conservatives had led the Liberals by more than 20 points Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday pledged to win US President Donald Trump’s trade war after winning Canada’s election and leading his Liberal Party to another term in power. Following a campaign dominated by Trump’s tariffs and annexation threats, Carney promised to chart “a new path forward” in a world “fundamentally changed” by a US that is newly hostile to free trade. “We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons,” said Carney, who led the central banks of Canada and the UK before entering politics earlier this year. “We will win this trade war and
Armed with 4,000 eggs and a truckload of sugar and cream, French pastry chefs on Wednesday completed a 121.8m-long strawberry cake that they have claimed is the world’s longest ever made. Youssef El Gatou brought together 20 chefs to make the 1.2 tonne masterpiece that took a week to complete and was set out on tables in an ice rink in the Paris suburb town of Argenteuil for residents to inspect. The effort overtook a 100.48m-long strawberry cake made in the Italian town of San Mauro Torinese in 2019. El Gatou’s cake also used 350kg of strawberries, 150kg of sugar and 415kg of
RSS