Miami Jury Indicts 8 Foreigners, 8 Firms For Exporting 12,000 IED Components For Iran

Miami, FL (AHN) - A federal grand jury in Miami, Florida has charged eight foreign nationals and eight foreign companies with violation of the U.S. arms and trade embargo on Iran.

A Sept. 11 indictment the jury opened Wednesday charged six Iranians, one Malaysian, a German, five Dubai-based firms, an Iranian business and two Malaysian firms with conspiracy, violations of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and the U.S. Iran Embargo, and lying to federal agencies about the export of thousands of U.S. goods to Iran via the United Arab Emirates, Malaysia, England, Germany and Singapore. The items bought in the U.S. have potential military applications and include 12,000 microchips for improvised explosive devices (IEDs), which have killed U.S. soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The indicted Iranians are Ali Akbar Yahya, Farrokh Nia Yaghmaei, Bahman Ghandi, Farshid Gillardian, Isaac Gillardian and Ahmad Rahzad Majid Seif. The Malaysian suspect is Kaam Chee Mun and the German co-defendant is Djamshid Nezhad.

The corporations charged were Mayrow General Trading, Atlinx Electronics, Micatic General Trading, Madjico Micro Electronics and Al-Farisa, all based in Dubai, UAE. Also charged were Neda Industrial Group, based in Iran and Eco Biochem Sdn BHD and Vast Solution Sdn BHD, both located in Malaysia.

American firms which unwittingly supplied the goods to the suspects were not charged.

An extensive inter-agency investigation into the use of U.S.-made goods in the construction of IEDs and other explosive devices used against Coalition Forces in Iraq and Afghanistan led to the identification and charging of the 16 suspects.