An Iranian spy managed to worm his way into the Federal Aviation Administration and even became a U.S. citizen even though he previously served in a foreign military organization associated with terrorism.
On Wednesday, Abouzar Rahmati, 42, pled guilty to acting as an agent of a foreign government without prior notification to the attorney general as well as conspiracy.
According to a press release from the Department of Justice, Rahmati frequently interacted with high-ranking Iranian officials between December 2017 and June 2024, passing along critical information regarding American aviation infrastructure without authorization.
During his scheme, Rahmati worked as an FAA contractor, a job that granted him “access to sensitive non-public information about the U.S. aviation sector,” the DOJ said. Rahmati also obtained “open-source and non-public materials about the U.S. solar energy industry” that he then passed along to Iranian leaders.
Rahmati ‘lied’ to US officials about his past military experience to secure work with firms that contract with the federal government.
While working for a federal contracting company, Rahmati downloaded at least 172 GB of data, including “sensitive” documents about the National Aerospace System and its airport surveillance radar networks. He then sent this data to members of the Iranian government on their orders in April 2022, the DOJ claimed.
That same month, he sent his brother, who lives in Iran, similar materials about “solar energy, solar panels, the FAA, U.S. airports, and U.S. air traffic control towers” with the understanding that his brother would pass along the information to Iranian intelligence, the DOJ added. Once again, he did so under the direction of the Iranian government.
Court documents claimed Rahmati “applied for multiple positions with private companies and U.S. government entities that would afford him access to sensitive information.”
The documents reiterated that “at no time” was Rahmati ever in a diplomatic or other official position that would have made such communications at least reasonable. He also never notified the U.S. attorney general that he intended to act as an agent or official of a foreign government.
Considering his background, it is a wonder that Rahmati managed to secure employment positions with access to such critical American information. Rahmati was born in Iran and earned an undergraduate and a master’s degree in technology-related fields from the University of Tehran.
From June 2009 until May 2010, he was conscripted to serve in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, an Iranian military and counterintelligence group that the U.S. government designated to be a foreign terrorist organization in 2019. He eventually rose to the rank of first lieutenant.
According to court documents, Rahmati “lied” to U.S. officials about his past military experience to secure work with firms that contract with the federal government.
When he moved to the U.S. is unclear, though he did earn a master’s of science and a Ph.D. from an American university, court documents said. The news of his conviction comes as liberals across America bewail the revocation of student visas for foreign natives who express hatred for the U.S. or who otherwise align themselves with terrorist organizations.
Rahmati is now a naturalized U.S. citizen residing in Great Falls, Virginia.
With his guilty plea, Rahmati faces up to 10 years in prison for acting as a foreign agent without prior notification to the attorney general and five years for conspiracy. He is scheduled to be sentenced on August 26.
H/T: The Post Millennial
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