U.S. Justice Department Accuses Zarrab's Brother of Evading Iran Sanctions

The U.S. prosecutor in the case of Reza Zarrab has accused his brother, Mohammad Zarrab, of 'conspiracy' to conduct financial transactions on behalf of or for the benefit of commercial entities, government agencies, or companies controlled by Tehran. Among these companies and entities are Mahan Air and Bank Mellat. Consequently, the scope of the accusations against Reza Zarrab, a Turkish-Iranian citizen at the center of the case, has broadened to include several other Iranian citizens, including Kamelia Jamshidi and Hossein Najafzadeh. The U.S. prosecutor states that 38-year-old Mohammad Zarrab, like his brother, holds dual citizenship in Iran and Turkey, but unlike Reza Zarrab, who is in custody in the United States, Mohammad Zarrab is currently free in Turkey. Among the accusations regarding 'conspiracy' for financial transactions, Mahan Air is prominently mentioned. The U.S. Treasury Department placed Mahan Air on its sanctions list in October 2011 for providing services to the Quds Force, a branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. According to the prosecutor in the Zarrab case, his brother and associates used their 'network' in Turkey and the United Arab Emirates for financial transactions through the U.S. financial system; transactions that benefited Mahan Air. The U.S. State Department recently emphasized that the sanctions against this company remain in effect following a report about Mahan Air flights to European and Asian countries. According to U.S. prosecutors, between 2010 and 2015—when Iran's nuclear sanctions, along with other existing sanctions, were still in place—the actions of Reza and Mohammad Zarrab, Jamshidi, and Najafzadeh benefited not only Mahan Air but also Bank Mellat and the National Iranian Oil Company. The U.S. Department of Justice has stated that the Zarrab group and two other defendants used an international network in Iran, Turkey, the UAE, and elsewhere to circumvent sanctions. Among the companies associated with this 'network' are Royal Holding in Turkey, Durak Exchange, Flash Doviz in Turkey, and Al-Nafis in the UAE. Reza Zarrab himself was arrested in Florida, USA, last April. In addition to the charges against him for violating sanctions, his name has also come up in connection with the case of Babak Zanjani, the Aminah Erdogan Foundation, the wife of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, or a major corruption case in Turkey. Zarrab has denied the charges against him.