An Iranian man has pleaded guilty to multiple federal felony counts stemming from what federal prosecutors described as a scheme to violate trade sanctions in place by the United States against his home country. China played a big role in the investigation.
The legal case against the 44-year-old Iranian national, Reza Dindar, goes back more than 10 years, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ). He was originally indicted by a grand jury in August 2014. It wasn’t until July 2025 when Dindar was arrested in Panama at the United States’ request, leading to extradition in April 2026. All of that led to him pleading guilty June 5 to two counts of export to an embargoed country and two counts of smuggling goods from the United States.
U.S. District Judge Ricardo Martinez scheduled sentencing for Aug. 28, 2026. Dindar faces up to 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine for being exported to an embargoed country, while charges for smuggling goods from the U.S are punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.
The case was prosecuted by assistant United States Attorney Todd Greenberg, while the DOJ’s Office of International Affairs worked with Panama’s government to secure the arrest and extradition. “Significant assistance” was also provided by the Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service (DSS).
U.S. agencies involved in the investigation include the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Industry and Security – Office of Export Enforcement, and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).
A Chinese Office at the Center of the Charges
Authorities said June 5 that Dindar’s smuggling activity violates U.S.-imposed sanctions against Iran based on presidential executive orders signed in March 1995 and later reimposed in 2001. Those orders prohibit the unauthorized exportation, re-exportation, sale, or supply, directly or indirectly, from the United States of any goods, technology, or services to Iran or the government of Iran.
Also, it prohibits the exportation or supply of goods, technology or services to individuals in third countries knowing or with reason to know that the goods, technology or services are intended for supply, trans-shipment, or re-exportation to Iran.
China plays a key role in the charges. A plea agreement cited by prosecutors states that between 2010 and 2014, Dindar managed a business called New Port Sourcing Solutions in Xi’an, China.
He wasn’t truthful about the purpose of the company, prosecutors said, as it was used to procure items in the U.S. for companies in Iran even though Dindar fraudulently claimed the goods were intended to be used in China.
Authorities said that Dindar and his coconspirators in 2011 and 2012 “used deception to purchase parts for three military sonar systems” from a business in the Western District of Washington, also claimed by Dindar and his coconspirators to be used by a company based in China.
An investigation discovered that the plan was to ship the parts through China to Iran, violating export controls.
One of Multiple Iran-Based Schemes
The same week that Dindar pleaded guilty, the DOJ announced that a dual U.S.-Iranian national and CEO of an Iran-based technology company was arrested and federally charged with allegedly violating U.S. sanctions against Iran by acquiring “sophisticated” U.S.-origin networking, security and encryption equipment for Iranian customers which includes the Iranian regime’s nuclear and military establishments.
That individual, Jamshid Ghomi, 63, of Newport Coast, Calif., was charged with conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). The IEEPA and the Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations (ITSR) impose controls and restrictions on transactions involving Iran based on the threats posed by the nation to the United States’ national security, including its pursuit of nuclear weapons and sponsorship of terrorism, according to the DOJ.
Ghomu is accused of aiding U.S. enemies by selling U.S.-origin computer networking parts to Iran and earning millions of dollars in violation of U.S. sanction laws, according to First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli for the Central District of California.
“Our nation’s laws prohibiting doing business with one of the world’s largest state sponsors of terrorism must be enforced and obeyed. We will hold him accountable by seeking an appropriate prison sentence and by seizing his assets, including his $35 million Newport Beach mansion,” Essayli said in a statement on June 3.
If convicted, Ghomi would face a maximum 20-year prison sentence.
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