US indicts businessman over attempt to supply aircraft components to Iran

The United States has indicted an American businessman for allegedly attempting to supply Iran with components for a Cold War-era aircraft, in Washington’s continued crackdown on sanctions violations.

According to the US Department of Justice (DOJ) earlier this month, since at least 2023, California-based businessman Jeffrey Nader and his associates allegedly obtained and attempted to export to Iran “four types of aircraft components, totalling nearly three dozen individual pieces”.

According to the DOJ, the components were intended to be used by Nader’s company Pro Aero Capital. The military aircraft they acquired the unspecified components for reportedly included the F-4 Phantom, a type Iran had obtained before the country’s ‘Islamic Revolution’ in 1979.

The indictment of the businessman “demonstrates the justice department’s commitment to keeping military-grade equipment out of the hands of the Iranian regime,” stated Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen from the DOJ’s National Security Division. “We will aggressively investigate, disrupt, and hold accountable criminal networks that supply sensitive technology to hostile and repressive governments in contravention of US sanctions.”

READ: US imposes fresh sanctions on Iran drone development network