BOSTON (WHDH) – A Natick man charged with conspiring to export sensitive technology to Iran that was used in a drone attack in Jordan that killed three American troops early this year and injured dozens of other service members was back in federal court in Boston on Friday.
Mahdi Mohammad Sadeghi, who prosecutors say works at a Massachusetts-based semiconductor company, and Mohammad Abedininajafabadi, who was arrested in Italy were arrested after FBI specialists who analyzed the drone traced its navigation system to an Iranian company operated by one of the defendants, who relied on parts and technology funneled into the country by his alleged co-conspirator, prosecutors said.
Sadeghi was joined in court by at least a dozen supporters, none of whom had anything to say afterward. He could be seen smiling and blowing a kiss to a woman in the courtroom.
He has been ordered held without bail and was back in court for a detention hearing.
Prosecutors allege that Abedininajafabadi, who was also called Adedini in court documents, has deep connections to the Iranian government. They say his Tehran-based company manufactures navigation systems for the military drone program of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard and that he conspired with Sadeghi to circumvent American export control laws, including through the creation of a front company in Switzerland, and procure sensitive technology into Iran.
Sadeghi, a naturalized U.S. citizen, was arrested Monday in Massachusetts and was ordered to remain detained following a court appearance. His lawyer did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
Both men are charged with export control violations, and Abedini separately faces charges of conspiring to provide material support to Iran.
Three Georgia soldiers — Sgt. William Jerome Rivers of Carrollton, Sgt. Breonna Moffett of Savannah and Sgt. Kennedy Sanders of Waycross — were killed in the Jan. 28 drone attack on a U.S. outpost in northeastern Jordan…