The US Department of Justice has announced the arrest of Iranian citizens and permanent U.S. residents over allegedly exporting sensitive electronic devices to Iran in violation of US sanctions.
Balam Mohammad Ostbali, 66, who lives in both Santa Monica and Tehran, was taken into custody at Los Angeles International Airport on Thursday, the department announced Friday.
The federal complaint, accused of “one conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Power Act and three counts of violating the IEPA,” has filed him.
According to the indictment, Ostbari is the founder and CEO of a Tehran-based engineering company called “Company A,” which provided telecommunications and railway signalling equipment to the Iranian government, including the Iranian Railway.
The Justice Department allegedly claimed that Ostbali and his partners illegally shipped “sophisticated computer processors, rail signalling equipment and other electronic devices” from at least May 2018 to July 2025.
Prosecutors claimed that Ostbali used two UAE-based front companies (MH-SYS FZCO and Match Systech FZE) to acquire goods from US suppliers and hide their final destinations.
“Ostbari and his co-conspirators have deliberately hidden the goods destined to Iran from electronic suppliers in the US and elsewhere,” the statement said.
Since becoming a permanent resident of the United States in May 2020, he has “continued to export, sell and supply electronics and electrical components to Iran-A companies.”
The Justice Department further allegedly claimed that Ostbali had knowledge of US sanctions, discussed them by email, and “instructed one co-conspirator to provide false information to the federal export control officer.”
If convicted, Ostbali could be held in prison for up to 20 years at each count, adding that the case has been investigated by the Homeland Security Investigation and the Ministry of Commerce.
Washington began to tighten sanctions against Tehran in 2018 after unilaterally withdrawing from the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement despite the full compliance with its transactional obligations.
MNA/IRN85885704