4 indicted in U.S. on charges of violating Iran sanctions

SEATTLE — A man arrested at the U.S.-Canada border last week is one of four people accused of conspiring to violate trade sanctions by sending technical equipment to Iran — some of which ended up with the Iranian military, a prosecutor said Tuesday.

Shahin Tabatabaei, of Vancouver, British Columbia, was arrested entering Washington state at Lynden on Friday, the FBI said. According to a federal indictment in California that has been under seal for the past two and a half years, he ran companies in Mexico and Canada that shipped American items through Turkey or the United Arab Emirates into Iran from 2007 to 2011.

The items appear to have had applications in the oil and gas industry, and the indictment suggests at least some had potential military uses. Assistant U.S. attorney Todd Greenberg told U.S. Magistrate Judge Mary Alice Theiler on Tuesday afternoon: “A number of the items went to the Iranian military. That is a national security concern.”

Greenberg did not elaborate.

Prosecutors charge that Tabatabaei lied on paperwork by saying the items would not be transported to Iran or other countries where their export would violate American law.

A lawyer for Tabatabaei, Jesse Cantor, asked the court to release him pending further proceedings in federal court in Santa Ana, California. Given that Tabatabaei faces a standard sentencing range of just 10 to 16 months if convicted, he would have little reason to flee, Cantor said.

“He wants to be with his family; he wants to get this matter resolved,” Cantor said.

The judge declined to release him, noting that if he decided not to show up for trial, the government’s only option would be the cumbersome process of having him extradited. He will be transferred to California soon.

The other defendants were based in Canada and Iran. One, Seyed Mohammad Akhavan Fatemi, was identified as the owner of IRCA Group in Canada. The company’s website describes it as a property developer based in Vancouver and lists its owner as Mohammad Fatemi.

Fatemi’s son, Ehsan Fatemi, who also works at the company, told The Associated Press on Tuesday he did not believe the person listed in the indictment could be his father.

“If what you’re saying is true, it’s completely bogus,” Ehsan Fatemi said. “I know what he does. I’m his son.”

However, he acknowledged that a Shahin Tabatabaei who worked in “import-export” rented space in the company’s office until about six or eight months ago.

The indictment remains under seal in federal court in California, but federal prosecutors in Seattle filed a copy in open court Monday in connection with Tabatabaei’s arrest. A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles said he could not discuss the case.

Tabatabei’s companies were Grupocanamex and Canadian Industrial Solutions, the indictment said. Using false names and making false representations about the end-users of the products, it said, he ordered pressure transducers from a company in Leonia, New Jersey; thermal imagers from a company in Santa Clara, California; solenoid valves from a company in Montville, New Jersey; battery chargers from a company in Lake Forest, California; and gear-motors from a company in Dayton, Ohio. None of the companies was named in the court filing, and none is accused of wrongdoing.

A pressure transducer is a device that senses fluid pressure and converts it to an electrical signal. Solenoid valves are electromechanically controlled valves.

Payments for some of the items were funneled through Fatemi, who shipped the items to “unindicted coconspirators” in the United Arab Emirates after receiving them from Tabatabaei, the indictment alleged.

The other two defendants are Abbas Moradi, identified as the chairman of Iran-based Control Farayand Abzar Daghigh, and one of his employees, Amirreza Sahebjamei. Investigators allege they collected orders from other Iranian companies, transmitted those orders to Tabatabei and facilitated payments to Fatemi.

Some of the equipment was destined for the Bid Boland Gas Refinery in Iran, Moradi allegedly wrote in one email referenced in the indictment.

The sanctions against Iran have been eased since the U.N. certified that the country has met all its commitments to curb its nuclear activities under a historic agreement reached last summer. Greenberg argued in court that even under the eased sanctions regime, providing those items for the Iranian military would be prohibited.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

Everett mall renderings from Brixton Capital. (Photo provided by the City of Everett)
Topgolf at the Everett Mall? Mayor’s hint still unconfirmed

After Cassie Franklin’s annual address, rumors circled about what “top” entertainment tenant could be landing at Everett Mall.

Everett
Everett man sentenced to 3 years of probation for mutilating animals

In 2022, neighbors reported Blayne Perez, 35, was shooting and torturing wildlife in north Everett.

The Washington State University Snohomish County Extension building at McCollum Park is located in an area Snohomish County is considering for the location of the Farm and Food Center on Thursday, March 28, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Year-round indoor farmers market inches closer to reality near Mill Creek

The Snohomish County Farm and Food Center received $5 million in federal funding. The county hopes to begin building in 2026.

Dorothy Crossman rides up on her bike to turn in her ballot  on Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Everett leaders plan to ask voters for property tax increase

City officials will spend weeks hammering out details of a ballot measure, as Everett faces a $12.6 million deficit.

Starbucks employee Zach Gabelein outside of the Mill Creek location where he works on Friday, Feb. 23, 2024 in Mill Creek, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Mill Creek Starbucks votes 21-1 to form union

“We obviously are kind of on the high of that win,” store bargaining delegate Zach Gabelein said.

Lynnwood police respond to a collision on highway 99 at 176 street SW. (Photo provided by Lynnwood Police)
Police: Teen in stolen car flees cops, causes crash in Lynnwood

The crash blocked traffic for over an hour at 176th Street SW. The boy, 16, was arrested on felony warrants.

The view of Mountain Loop Mine out the window of a second floor classroom at Fairmount Elementary on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
County: Everett mining yard violated order to halt work next to school

At least 10 reports accused OMA Construction of violating a stop-work order next to Fairmount Elementary. A judge will hear the case.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.