Iran's Protest Against the Arrest of Two Iranians in Drone Attack Case

Iranian state media reported on Saturday, December 22, that the Islamic Republic summoned the Swiss ambassador in Tehran, who represents U.S. interests in Iran, and a senior Italian diplomat to protest the arrest of two Iranian citizens. The U.S. Attorney's Office charged these individuals on Monday with the illegal export of sensitive technology to Iran. According to the prosecutor's announcement, this technology was used in a drone attack on a base in Jordan that resulted in the deaths of three American soldiers. The United States holds Iran-affiliated militias responsible for this attack, but Tehran denies any involvement. The federal prosecutor in Boston identified the Iranian citizens as Mohammad Abedini Najafabadi, a founder of an Iranian company, and Mehdi Sadeghi, an employee of an analog semiconductor company in Massachusetts. Abedini Najafabadi, a resident of Switzerland and Iran, was arrested in Italy at the request of the U.S. government. Sadeghi, an Iranian citizen with U.S. citizenship, lives in Natick, Massachusetts. Iranian media quoted the country's Foreign Ministry as saying that Tehran has asked the Swiss ambassador and the Italian chargé d'affaires to convey Iran's protest regarding the arrest of its citizens. U.S. officials announced on Monday night at a press conference that by examining the drone used in the attack on the base hosting U.S. forces in Jordan, they were able to determine how parts of it made their way to the Iranian drone used in the January attack. They stated that Mohammad Abedini Najafabadi, who has a company in Iran that has ties to the government and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, obtained an American-made part through Mehdi Sadeghi, who worked at the company that manufactured that part, via a shell company in Europe. Abedini Najafabadi was arrested in Italy through the efforts of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and U.S. officials are working to bring him to America for trial. Among the charges against them is that they violated a series of regulations related to export restrictions to Iran, thereby causing the deaths of American soldiers in the drone attack. These charges relate to the first deadly attack against American forces since the onset of the Israel-Hamas war in October 2023. The coalition known as 'Islamic Resistance' in Iraq, composed of hardline militias affiliated with the Islamic Republic, claimed responsibility for the attack on three bases, including one at the Jordan-Syria border. However, the Iranian government denies any involvement in this attack. Source: Reuters and Voice of America. New U.S. sanctions against actors in Iran's missile and drone programs. Indictment against an Iranian and an Iranian-American in the drone attack case.