An independent US citizen living in Great Falls, Virginia, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to working with the Iranian government and intelligence reporting officials on behalf of the United States as a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) contractor between 2017 and 2024.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) said in federal court that 42-year-old Abouzar Rahmati had conspiracy to act and act on behalf of the US Iranian government without prior notice to the Attorney General.
Lahamati was previously the Islamic Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) 1st Century Lt., a branch of the Iranian military, from June 2009 to May 2010. The IRGC is a terrorist group designated by the US government.
Court documents show that from at least December 2017 to June 2024, Ramati worked with Iranian intelligence operatives and government officials on behalf of the United States.
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Abouzar Rahmati is being charged with acting as an agent of the Iranian government. (US Department of Justice)
During that period, Ramati met in Iranian intelligence newsletter, using cover stories with Iranian authorities to hide the act, gain employment with FAA contractors with access to sensitive and private information on the US aviation sector, and acquired and provided open source and private materials on the solar energy industry in the US solar energy industry.
The DOJ said Rahmati provided Iran’s services in August 2017 through a former colleague who was a senior official in the Iranian government who previously worked for the country’s Intelligence Agency Ministry.
Rahmati traveled to Iran four months later to meet intelligence operatives and government officials, the DOJ said. He also agreed to gather and provide information on the US solar system industry to Iranian officials.
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When he returned to the US in early 2018, Lahamati obtained private and open source materials related to the US solar system industry and provided them to the office of Iran’s Vice President of Science and Technology.
While working as a FAA contractor in the US, Rahmati downloaded at least 175 GB of files containing sensitive access control FAA documents related to the National Aerospace System (NAS), NAS Airport Surveillance Radar System, and radio frequency data.
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An independent US citizen living in Great Falls, Virginia, pleaded guilty Wednesday to working with the Iranian government and intelligence reporting officials on behalf of the United States as a contractor for the Federal Aviation Administration. (ap photo/seth wenig, file)
According to the DOJ, Rahmati saved the file on removable media and went to Iran in April 2022 to provide it to government officials.
He also provided his brother, who lives in Iran in April 20222 with additional information on solar energy, solar panels, the FAA, US airports and US air traffic control towers, the DOJ added, allowing his brother to provide files to the Intelligence Agency on behalf of Ramati.
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Ramati is scheduled to be sentenced on August 26th, and he faces up to 10 years’ prison to act as an agent for a foreign government and up to 5 years’ prison for the plot.
Sarah Rumpf-Whitten from Fox News Digital contributed to this report.
