2 men charged in connection with drone strike in Jordan that killed 3 U.S. troops

Two men have been charged in Boston federal court in connection with a fatal drone strike in Jordan that killed three U.S. service members and injured dozens earlier this year. 

Mahdi Mohammad Sadeghi, 42, a dual U.S.-Iranian national of Natick, Massachusetts, and Mohammad Abedininajafabadi, also known as Mohammad Abedini, 38, of Iran, were charged with violating U.S. export laws by conspiring to export electronic components to Iran, prosecutors in Massachusetts announced Monday.

Abedini was further charged with providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization — the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

The men allegedly conspired to evade U.S. sanctions and supply the Iranian government with a type of drone navigation technology used in the Jan. 28 drone attack at the Tower 22 base in Jordan, a U.S. military outpost, prosecutors said.

Analysis of the drone recovered from the attack site showed that the drone was an Iranian Shahed UAV, and the navigation system used in the drone was the Sepehr Navigation System, which was manufactured by Abedini’s company, prosecutors said in a news release.

The drone, launched by IRGC-backed militants, made impact near a shelter where some troops were sleeping and killed three U.S. service members. More than 40 people were also injured.

According to prosecutors, Abedini is the founder and managing director of an Iranian company, San’at Danesh Rahpooyan Aflak Co., or SDRA, which manufactures navigation modules used in the IRGC’s military drone program. 

SDRA’s main business is selling the navigation system to the IRGC, which are then used in unmanned aerial vehicles, as well as cruise and ballistic missiles. 

Sadeghi, on the other hand, is employed by a Massachusetts-based “microelectronics manufacturer” and is one of the founders of a Massachusetts-based technology company that specializes in “wearable sensors that provide kinetic monitoring for fitness applications.” He had received funding from the Iranian government for the company he helped found.

The two men allegedly conspired to procure goods and technology from Sadeghi’s place of work and exported them and supplied them to Iran to Abedini’s Iranian company SDRA. 

Prosecutors alleged that “since in or around 2016, on multiple occasions, Sadeghi has helped Abedini procure U.S. export-controlled electronic components for Abedini’s use in Iran.”

Because the U.S. has laws restricting exports to Iran, Abedini allegedly established a Switzerland front company for SDRA called Illumove SA. 

While both men are charged for violating U.S. export laws, Abedini is further charged with providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization, the IRGC Aerospace Force, which is the strategic missile, air and space force within the IRGC. 

“Since at least in or about 2014, SDRA has had multiple projects with the IRGC Aerospace Force, including projects for guided rockets and integrated navigation systems. As alleged, between 2021 and 2022, approximately 99% of SDRA’s sales of the Sepehr Navigation System, which are used in IRGC one-way attack drones, were to the IRGC’s Aerospace Force,” the news release said. 

Sadeghi was arrested Monday and is being held pending a detention hearing set for Dec. 27. Abedini was also arrested Monday in Italy at the request of the United States. 

NBC News has reached out to a public defender listed for Sadeghi. Abedini has not retained legal representation in the U.S. yet. It’s not clear when he’ll be brought to the U.S. to face charges.

Attorney General Merrick Garland said the arrests demonstrate “that the Justice Department will hold accountable those who enable the Iranian regime to continue to target and kill Americans and undermine the national security of the United States.”

Joshua S. Levy, the United States attorney for the District of Massachusetts, said the allegations against the two men “make clear the grievous harm that can result when highly sophisticated American technologies subject to export controls end up in the hands of our adversaries.”

The men, if convicted, each face up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $1 million on the conspiracy to violate export laws charge. Abedini further faces up to life in prison, up to a lifetime of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000 on the charge of conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization resulting in death.