Illegal exports of US aircraft parts to Iran land charges

   The Justice Department said Iranian citizen Peyman Amiri Larijani was charged this week in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on two separate indictments involving illegal exports to Iran.
   Specifically, the indictments charge 33-year-old Larijani and Turkish-based company Kral Havacilik IC VE DIS Ticaret Sirketi (Kral Aviation) with conspiracy to acquire U.S.-made aircraft parts and evade U.S. export controls to ship them to Iran via Turkey, violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations (ITSR) and Export Administration Regulations (EAR).
   The first shipments took place between December 2010 and July 2012, while Larijani was the operations manager for Kral Aviation, according to the indictment.
   The parts were destined to Iranian airlines Mahan Air, Sahand Air and Kish Air, which are subject to U.S. export controls under the Treasury Department’s Specially Designated National (SDN) List for their financial and technical support of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force. Kral Aviation is on the Commerce Department’s Entity List. 
   Again, from April to September 2012, Larijani and his co-conspirators attempted to acquire U.S.-origin aircraft engines to supply to Mahan Air in Iran without obtaining a license or other authorization from the United States.
   If convicted, Larijani faces up to 20 years in jail.
   “Mahan Air represents a continuing significant threat against United States and its allies,” said Commerce Department Assistant Secretary Nazak Nikakhtar in a statement. “We will use all of the tools at our disposal to bring to justice those who threaten our way of life and violate our laws.”