Reston Man Sentenced for Selling Nuke-Related Items to Iran

A Reston man was sentenced Friday for exporting unlicensed goods to Iran.

Vahid Hosseini, 62, of Reston, Virginia, was sentenced Friday to 30 months in prison, followed by two years of supervised release, for exporting various high-tech unlicensed goods to Iran, in violation of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and for laundering money wired to him from multiple overseas accounts, according to a news release from the FBI. Hosseini agreed to forfeit $50,000 as part of his guilty plea in this case.

Hosseini pleaded guilty March 6. According to court documents, from at least as early as January 2008 to July 2013, Hosseini operated a business known as Sabern Instruments from his residence in Reston. 

Through this business, Hosseini procured over $250,000 worth of goods from more than 60 American manufacturers, which he then repackaged and shipped to entities in Iran. 

The list of high-tech goods included tachometers, power supply instruments, high-temperature probes, ammonia test tubes, valves,and machinery parts, all of which are used in a variety of commercial applications, including power plants. Some of the items Hosseini sent to Iran were found to be capable of adding value to a nuclear weapons program and to other nuclear related applications and research areas.

Hosseini routed his shipments through the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in an attempt to disguise the fact that the items were destined for Iran. Such exports are prohibited without a license issued by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control. 

In a related money laundering scheme, Hosseini had over $700,000 wired into his company business account from entities in Iran and the UAE, much of which was derived from his illegal export business.

This case was investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Neil Hammerstrom prosecuted the case.