Mahdi Mohammad Sadeghi, an Iranian-American, has been found guilty of conspiring to smuggle drone components to Iran. The verdict follows a trial that linked the parts to navigation systems in Iranian military drones.
Sadeghi was arrested in 2024 alongside accomplice Mohammad Abedini. Prosecutors accused them of using a Swiss front company to obtain semiconductors from U.S. firms including Analog Devices and route them to an Iran-backed entity.
The case ties to a January 2024 drone strike on a U.S. base in Jordan that killed three American service members. Court documents identified the recovered drone as an Iranian Shahed UAV whose navigation system was produced by Abedini’s company.
Defense attorneys argued Sadeghi provided only general business advice and disputed that parts reached Iran. The judge barred evidence directly connecting the components to the Jordan attack.
U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani has scheduled sentencing for October 13. Abedini remains in Iran after an exchange for an Italian journalist and faces no prosecution.
