Drone strike. Illustration
Drone strike. IllustrationISTOCK

The US charged two men on Monday for illegally exporting sensitive technology to Iran that was used in a drone strike by Iranian-backed terrorists on a US military outpost in Jordan which killed three US servicemembers and wounded 47 others.

Federal prosecutors in Boston charged Mohammad Abedini, also known as Mohammad Abedininajafabadi, the co-founder of an Iranian-based company, and Mahdi Sadeghi, an employee of Massachusetts-based semiconductor manufacturer Analog Devices, with conspiring to violate US export laws.

Abedini was also charged with providing material support to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps that resulted in death.

Sadeghi is an Iranian-born naturalized US citizen who resides in Natick, Massachusetts. Abedini, who splits his time between Switzerland and Iran, was arrested in Milan, Italy, at the request of the US government, which will seek his extradition.

The January 28th attack on the Tower 22 outpost near the Jordan-Syria border killed three US Army reservists: Sergeant William Jerome Rivers; Specialist Kennedy Ladon Sanders; and Specialist Breonna Alexsondria Moffett. According to US officials, the drone was launched by an Iranian-backed militia in Iraq.

"We often cite hypothetical risk when we talk about the dangers of American technologies getting into dangerous hands," US Attorney Joshua Levy said in a press conference. "Unfortunately, in this situation, we are not speculating."

According to the prosecution, Abedini had used a company in Switzerland as a front to procure American technologies from Sadeghi's employer, Analog Devices, including accelerometers and gyroscopes that were then sent to Iran.

The Massachusetts-based company said it was cooperating with law enforcement and was "committed to preventing unauthorized access to and misuse of our products and technology."

Sadeghi's detention was extended pending a further hearing after a prosecutor classified him as a flight risk.