In order to secure the release of five Americans from Iranian custody, President Obama not only released seven Iranians from U.S prison, but the State Department also removed international arrest notices — known as Interpol “Red Notices” — for 14 Iranian individuals.
Most of these men were located overseas with extradition sought by the United States, but now they live worry free.
Alireza Moazzemi Goudarzi: Goudarzi was indicted in November 2012 by a federal grand jury for six separate counts. Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said: “As alleged, Alireza Moazami Goudarzi aggressively sought to purchase and export military-grade aircraft parts and other materials to Iran in violation of multiple statutes and regulations. Goudarzi brazenly discussed his willingness to pay higher prices in order to circumvent the embargo, and used multiple aliases and an international network of co-conspirators in his attempts to trans-ship materials to Iran, as is detailed in the allegations.”
Matin Sadeqi: A federal arrest warrant was issued by the FBI for Sadeqi for conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. Sadeqi was wanted for, “illegally transfer[ing] at least $24 million of micro-electronics and other components to Faratel-Iran, since July 2010.” Customers of Faratel-Iran include the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran.
Jalal Salami: Salami is a resident of both Iran and the United States and owned Pastek Solutions, a company located in San Marcos, California. Both Salami and Pastek Solutions were indicted in 2011 in federal court for charges related to smuggling electronic components through Malaysia, with the intention to give them to end-users in Iran. He would have faced 55 years in jail if convicted.
Sajad Farhadi and SeyedAhmad Abtahi: Both Farhadi and Abtahi were indicted in the same case as Salami and both faced 30 years in jail for smuggling and exporting without a license. They were both Iranian citizens involved with a Malaysian company known as Sunsem. Farhadi ran the day-to-day operations, while Abtahi identified specific electronic components in the U.S for end-users in Iran. Curiously both individuals had their names misspelled in previous news reports, the Department of Justice has not responded to a request for comment to why this is.
Gholamreza Mahmoudi: Mahmoudi was involved closely with heavily sanctioned Iranian airlines Mahan Air as a senior official and corporate director. Mahan Air still operates flights in the Mideast and Europe, though has been previously linked by the U.S Government to terrorist activity and has had their planes “blacklisted.” According the the Department of Treasury Mahan Air received sanctions for, “providing financial, material and technological support to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force.”
Hamid Arabnejad: Arabnejad is the CEO of Mahan Air. In case support of U.S designated terrorist supporter Quds Force isn’t enough to frighten you about the prospects of Arabnejad walking free, Mahan Air has been accused by the Department of Treasury of, “ferrying significant quantities of weapons and other illicit cargo into Syria on its own passenger aircraft to support the Assad regime’s violent crackdown against its own citizens.“
Amin Ravan: Through a Singapore located company named Corezing, Ravan planned to acquire U.S made antennas to ship to Iran. A federal grand jury in D.C indicted Ravan and his company IC Market Iran in 2011 for six counts include violating the “International Traffic in Arms Regulations.” One of the antennas he received was described as, “omnidirectional, sealed, and suitable for airborne and shipboard environments including in several military aircraft.”
Behrouz Dolatzadeh: Dolatzadeh was previously indicted by a 2011 federal grand jury in Arizona for attempting to illegally export 3,500 M-4 rifles to Iran. He was on the boards of several companies directly controlled by Iran Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. During communication with a Department of Homeland Security agent posing as a gun dealer, Dolatzadeh agreed to a “transshipment scheme to Syria.” Back in 1995, Behrouz Dolatzadeh was identified as a member of Iran’s Ministry of Defense and indicted for trying to ship thousands of dollars worth of American made communications equipment to Iran.
Four more individuals had their Interpol “Red Notices” lifted and they are Ali Moattar, Mohammad Ali She’rbaf, Mohammad Abbas Mohammadi, Kourosh Taherkhani, and Saeed Jamili. There is currently no available information on why the United States had wanted these individuals and the Department of Justice responded with “no comment.”
