Abouzar Rahmati, a 42-year-old naturalized US citizen working as a Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) contractor, pled guilty to "conspiring to act and acting as an agent of the Iranian government in the United States without prior notification to the Attorney General," the US Justice Department confirmed on Wednesday.
Court documents showed that Rahmati worked with Iranian government officials and intelligence operatives from at least December 2017 until June 2024.
Rahmati was born in Iran, according to Iran International, and previously was an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) officer from June 2009 to May 2010, according to Fox News. IRGC are designated as a terror organization by many Western countries, including the US and Israel.
This included meeting with Iranian intelligence officers in Iran, communicating with Iranian intelligence officers and government officials using a "cover story to hide his conduct," obtaining employment with an FAA contractor to gain access to sensitive "non-public information about the US aviation sector" and obtaining "open-source and non-public materials about the US solar energy industry," before providing it to Iranian handlers, the Justice Department added.
Rahmati offered his services to Tehran through a "senior Iranian government official" who previously worked in Iran's Intelligence and Security Ministry. The two attended university together, the Justice Department added.
In December 2017, he travelled to Iran and agreed to obtain information about the US and provide details under the cover of purported discussions about research with fellow academics.
Once he received information about the US solar energy industry, Rahmati provided the information to an official from the office of Iran's Vice President for Science and Technology.
Exploiting his position as an FAA contractor
Rahmati also "exploited his employment as an FAA contractor" by working for "US COMPANY 1," downloading at least 172gb. of files, including "sensitive access-controlled FAA documents related to the National Aerospace System (NAS), NAS Airport Surveillance Radar systems, and radio frequency data."
"US COMPANY 1" is used by the Justice Department to refer to a US-based company that is being kept anonymous in their statements.
The Justice Department explained that Rahmati stored these files on removable media, which he took to Iran, and transferred the media to the Iranian government in April 2022.
He also sent information "relating to solar energy, solar panels, the FAA, US airports, and US air traffic control towers" to his brother, who lived in Iran, and acted on his behalf as an intermediary with Iranian intelligence.
Rahmati was indicted in September 2024 and is scheduled for sentencing on August 26. According to the Justice Department, he faces a "maximum statutory penalty of 10 years in prison for acting as an agent of a foreign government without prior notification to the Attorney General, and up to five years in prison for conspiracy."
"The Iranian government continues to target American institutions for infiltration," US Attorney Edward Martin Jr. for the District of Columbia stated, according to Iran International.
"We will hold accountable anyone who puts our national security at risk," he added.