Iranian and Chinese duo charged by US with exporting drone components to Iran

The US has charged an Iranian and a Chinese national with allegedly supplying microelectronics to Iran for use in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ drone programme.

Hossein Hatefi Ardakani and Gary Lam, also known as Lin Jinghe, are accused in a September 2020 indictment unsealed on Tuesday of conspiring to illegally purchase and export US-made dual-use microelectronics to Iran.

“We remain focused on disrupting the efforts of Iran and its agents to circumvent US sanctions in support of Iran’s weapons programmes, including its drone programme, which have been used to support and supply terrorist organisations and other foreign adversaries – such as Russia – around the globe,” US attorney Matthew Graves said in a statement.

The US Treasury Department announced meanwhile that it was imposing sanctions on a network of 10 entities – led by Ardakani – and four individuals based in Iran, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Indonesia.

According to the 2020 indictment, Ardakani and his co-conspirators used foreign companies to evade US export controls on sensitive equipment.

“Between June and September 2015, Ardakani and Lam caused an unwitting French company to purchase from a US company several pieces of analogue-to-digital converters,” the Justice Department said.