Three Charged With IEEPA Violations After Exporting Carbon Fiber to Iran
The Department of Justice announced charges against three Iranian citizens for violations of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act after they exported carbon fiber from the U.S. to Iran, according to a July 16 press release. One of the Iranian citizens, Behzad Pourghannad, was extradited to the U.S. from Germany on July 15. The other two -- Ali Reza Shokri and Farzin Faridmanesh -- have not yet been arrested, the DOJ said.
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Between 2008 and 2013, Pourghannad, Shokri and Faridmanesh worked together to export carbon fiber from the U.S. to Iran “via third countries,” the press release said. Shokri procured “many tons” of the fiber from the U.S., Pourghannad served as the “financial guarantor for large carbon fiber transactions,” and Faridmanesh worked as the transshipper, the DOJ said.
In 2007 and 2008, Shokri allegedly worked with a Turkey-based co-conspirator to illegally export carbon fiber from the U.S. to an Iranian company associated with Shokri. The shipment traveled from the U.S. to Europe and through the United Arab Emirates before eventually reaching Iran, the press release said. In 2009, Pourghannad and Shokri tried to complete another shipment of the carbon fiber by exporting it from the U.S. to a third country before eventually shipping it to Iran. But authorities in the third country, which DOJ did not name, stopped the shipment. The three Iranian citizens tried to export U.S. fiber to Iran again in 2013 by first sending it through Georgia. Faridmanesh told an unnamed co-conspirator to change the shipping labels to “acrylic” or “polyester” instead of “carbon fiber,” the press release said.
Pourghannad, Shokri and Faridmanesh were each charged with one count of conspiracy to violate the IEEPA and two counts of violation and attempted violation of the IEEPA. The charges carry a maximum potential prison sentence of 20 years. Carbon fiber can be used in “missiles, aerospace engineering, and gas centrifuges that enrich uranium,” the press release said.