Overview
- Shamim Mafi, 44, was taken into custody Saturday night at LAX as she prepared to fly to Turkey, and she appeared in a Los Angeles federal court Monday.
- An unsealed complaint charges conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which bars brokering sanctioned Iranian defense sales without U.S. licenses and carries up to 20 years if convicted.
- Prosecutors allege she arranged a contract worth more than $70.6 million for Mohajer-6 armed drones, plus 55,000 bomb fuses and large ammunition deals for Sudan’s defense ministry using an Oman-based firm and payment routes through Turkey and the UAE.
- Investigators cite roughly 62 contacts with an officer of Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence from December 2022 to June 2025, frequent travel abroad, and more than $7 million in 2025 payments to the alleged front company as evidence.
- Authorities link the alleged transfers to Sudan’s civil war, where Iranian-made drones have been reported, and say the probe is ongoing as the U.S. lawful permanent resident, since 2016, remains in federal custody.