Massachusetts man found guilty of illegally exporting tech to Iran

An Iranian-born engineer was convicted in the United States of conspiring to illegally export electronic components to Iran, the Department of Justice said Tuesday. A jury found Massachusetts resident Mahdi Mohammad Sadeghi guilty on Monday of unlawfully subverting American export control laws. He worked at the global electronics company Analog Devices and helped an Iranian business associate get around the law, the DOJ said.

Prosecutors said Sadeghi, 43, was part of a scheme to export sophisticated electronic components from the United States to Iran. The scheme included the creation of a front company in Switzerland. He used the Swiss-based company to funnel Analog’s global semiconductor technology to Iran, the DOJ said.

What did Sadeghi say about the conviction? Defense attorneys for Sadeghi argued during his trial that all his business dealings were legitimate and transparent, according to Reuters. The Swiss company was genuine and not the fake front that prosecutors alleged, attorneys said.

Sadeghi is scheduled to be sentenced for his conviction in October, the DOJ said. He was first charged in a criminal complaint in 2024.

He was charged alongside Mohammad Abedininajafabadi, called Abedini in court documents. Abedini was not on trial this past week. While he was arrested in Italy at the request of the U.S. government in 2025, he was later released in an apparent prisoner exchange for an Italian journalist, according to the Associated Press.