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17 Dec 24. Founder of Iranian Company Arrested for Providing Material Support to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and for a Scheme to Procure Sensitive U.S. Technology for Use in IRGC Military Drones, One of Which Killed Three U.S. Servicemembers. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has announced that Mahdi Mohammad Sadeghi, 42, a dual U.S.-Iranian national of Natick, Massachusetts, and Mohammad Abedininajafabadi, also known as Mohammad Abedini (Abedini), 38, of Tehran, Iran, have been charged in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts with conspiring to export sophisticated electronic components from the United States to Iran in violation of U.S. export control and sanctions laws. Abedini is also charged with providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization (FTO), that resulted in the deaths of three U.S. service members who were killed by a one-way attack Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), also known as a drone, on a military base in Jordan. According to court documents, Abedini is the founder and managing director of an Iranian company, San’at Danesh Rahpooyan Aflak Co. (SDRA or SADRA), which manufactures navigation modules used in the IRGC’s military drone program. SDRA’s main business is the sale of a proprietary navigation system — known as the Sepehr Navigation System — to the IRGC, which the United States designated as an FTO on April 15, 2019. The primary application of SDRA’s Sepehr Navigation System is for use in UAVs, as well as cruise and ballistic missiles. Sadeghi is currently employed by a Massachusetts-based microelectronics manufacturer (U.S. Company 1) and was one of the founders of a Massachusetts-based technology company (U.S. Company 2) that specializes in wearable sensors that provide kinetic monitoring for fitness applications. As alleged in court documents, Abedini, Sadeghi, and others conspired to evade U.S. export control and sanctions laws by procuring U.S.-origin goods, services, and technology from, among others, U.S. Company 1 and causing those goods, services, and technology to be exported or otherwise supplied to Iran and, in particular, Abedini’s Iranian company, SDRA. As further alleged, in or around 2016, Sadeghi traveled to Iran to request funding for U.S. Company 2 from the Iranian National Elites Foundation (INEF), which is an Iranian governmental organization whose main purpose is to recognize, organize, and support Iran’s elite national talents. In exchange for funding for U.S. Company 2, which Sadeghi’s company ultimately received from the INEF, Sadeghi and others created a second company in Iran (Iranian Company 1). Shortly after forming Iranian Company 1, Sadeghi, through Iranian Company 1, entered into a contract with SDRA for the purchase of SDRA’s technology. It is also alleged that, since in or around 2016, on multiple occasions, Sadeghi has helped Abedini procure U.S. export-controlled electronic components for Abedini’s use in Iran. Due to U.S. laws restricting exports to Iran, Abedini established a Switzerland front company for SDRA, Illumove SA (Illumove). With Sadeghi’s assistance, Abedini, through Illumove, entered into a contract with U.S. Company 1 to develop a mechanism to evaluate U.S. Company 1’s electronic components, including sophisticated semiconductors. Sadeghi and Abedini subsequently caused U.S.-origin goods, services, and technology to be transferred to Iran through Illumove for the benefit of SDRA. Certain of the electronic components that Abedini obtained through Illumove were the same types of electronic components used in SDRA’s Sepehr Navigation System. Abedini is also charged with providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization, the IRGC, specifically, the IRGC Aerospace Force, which is the strategic missile, air, and space force within the IRGC. Since at least in or about 2014, SDRA has had multiple projects with the IRGC Aerospace Force, including projects for guided rockets and integrated navigation systems. As alleged, between 2021 and 2022, approximately 99% of SDRA’s sales of the Sepehr Navigation System, which is used in IRGC one-way attack drones, were to the IRGC’s Aerospace Force. On Jan. 28, three U.S. service members were killed, and more than forty others were injured, in a drone attack by IRGC-backed militants on a military base located in northern Jordan, known as Tower 22. According to court documents, FBI analysis of the drone that was recovered from the site of the attack showed that the drone was an Iranian Shahed UAV and that the navigation system used in the drone was the Sepehr Navigation System, which was manufactured by Abedini’s company, SDRA. Sadeghi and Abedini were charged by criminal complaint with one count of conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $1 m. Abedini was also charged with one count of conspiracy to provide material support to a Foreign Terrorist Organization, resulting in death, and one count of provision and attempted provision of material support to a Foreign Terrorist Organization, resulting in death, which carries a penalty of up to life in prison, lifetime supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. his prosecution is being coordinated through the Disruptive Technology Strike Force, an interagency law enforcement strike force co-led by the Departments of Justice and Commerce designed to target illicit actors, protect supply chains, and prevent critical technology from being acquired by authoritarian regimes and hostile nation-states. (Source: glstrade.com)
17 Dec 24. Trump says US military should talk about nature of drone sightings.
- Summary
- Trump urges military to disclose drone sighting details
- Pentagon confirms drones not linked to U.S. military
- Most sightings involve manned aircraft, no security threat
President-elect Donald Trump said on Monday that the U.S. military should tell the American public about the nature of the drone sightings that have plagued the East Coast over the last several weeks.
“The government knows what is happening,” Trump said. “For some reason, they don’t want to comment. And I think they’d be better off saying what it is our military knows and our president knows.”
Trump, speaking at a press conference in Palm Beach, Florida, said, “I can’t imagine it’s the enemy,” without going into specifics. He declined to answer whether he had received an intelligence briefing on the matter.
A Pentagon spokesperson, speaking with reporters earlier on Monday before Trump spoke, reiterated that the drones in question were not U.S. military ones. The spokesperson added that the military was limited by law in what it could do to detect and track drones within the United States, unless there was a threat.
“Flying drones is not illegal. There are thousands of drones flown around the U.S. on a daily basis. So, as a result, it’s not that unusual to see drones in the sky, nor is it an indication of malicious activity or any public safety threat,” Pentagon spokesman Major General Pat Ryder told reporters. (Source: Reuters)
16 Dec 24. DoD Makes Investment to Strengthen the Tungsten Supply Chain. The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) has announced a $15.8m award to Canadian company Fireweed Metals Corp. via the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Policy’s Defense Production Act Purchases (DPAP) office. The objective of this award is to accelerate the development of a tungsten mine at the Mactung site in the Yukon, Canada, which is one of the world’s largest undeveloped high-grade deposits of tungsten. The award will help Fireweed enhance Mactung’s resource definition, perform metallurgical test work, conduct a feasibility study, and complete other activities necessary to support a construction decision. This effort utilizes funds from the Additional Ukraine Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2022 and supports the 2024 National Defense Industrial Strategy goal of expanding support for domestic production of critical minerals. Along with the funding provided by DPAP, Canada’s Department of Natural Resources is also supporting the project with a conditional approval of up to CAD $12.9m (approximately USD $9.2m) to Fireweed. Announced in January 2020, the U.S.-Canadian Joint Action Plan on Critical Minerals advances both countries’ common interest in strengthening North American critical mineral production needed for defense, aerospace, clean energy, communication, and other key industries. The plan outlines bilateral commitments to collaborate on industrial base investments, public-private partnerships, and other projects to onshore and expand these capabilities. This is the latest of two awards made by the DPAP office, totaling $22.4 m since the beginning of Fiscal Year 2025. Using authorities under the Defense Production Act (DPA) that consider Canada a domestic source, this is also the latest of six awards made to Canadian companies using DPA funds to execute projects based in Canada. DPAP is part of the Manufacturing Capability Expansion and Investment Prioritization (MCEIP) Directorate within the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Resilience. (Source: glstrade.com)
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Founded in 1987, Exensor Technology is a world leading supplier of Networked Unattended Ground Sensor (UGS) Systems providing tailored sensor solutions to customers all over the world. From our Headquarters in Lund Sweden, our centre of expertise in Network Communications at Communications Research Lab in Kalmar Sweden and our Production site outside of Basingstoke UK, we design, develop and produce latest state of the art rugged UGS solutions at the highest quality to meet the most stringent demands of our customers. Our systems are in operation and used in a wide number of Military as well as Homeland Security applications worldwide. The modular nature of the system ensures any external sensor can be integrated, providing the user with a fully meshed “silent” network capable of self-healing. Exensor Technology will continue to lead the field in UGS technology, provide our customers with excellent customer service and a bespoke package able to meet every need.
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