Tehran protests arrest of two Iranians for technology transfer – Firstpost

Tehran has formally protested the arrest of two Iranians in Italy and the United States accused of transferring sensitive American technology to Iran, local media reported.

US prosecutors on Monday charged Mahdi Mohammad Sadeghi and Mohammad Abedininajafabadi with “conspiring to export sophisticated electronic components from the United States to Iran in violation of US export control and sanctions laws”, according to a statement from the United States Department of Justice.

The statement added that the illegally exported technology was used in a January drone attack that killed three U.S. service members in Jordan.

Iran has denied any involvement in the attack, calling the allegations “baseless accusations.”

“We consider the cruel and unilateral sanctions of the United States against Iran as well as these arrests to be contrary to all international laws and norms,” Vahid Jalalzadeh, official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, declared on Saturday evening to the agency of press Tasnim.

Jalalzadeh said the ministry had “invited” the Italian charge d’affaires and the Swiss ambassador in Tehran – who represents US interests there – to “declare their protests over the arrests”.

Abedininajafabadi, 38, was arrested Monday in Italy by Italian authorities at the request of the United States, the U.S. Department of Justice announced.

He identified Sadeghi as a 42-year-old man with dual American-Iranian citizenship who was arrested in the United States.