BOSTON (AP) — Two men, including a dual Iranian American citizen, have been charged with conspiring to export sensitive technology to Iran that was used in a drone attack in Jordan that killed three American troops early this year and injured dozens of other service members, the Justice Department said Monday.
The pair were arrested after FBI specialists who analyzed the drone traced its navigation system to an Iranian company operated by one of the defendants, who relied on parts and technology funneled into the country by his alleged co-conspirator, prosecutors said.
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Christine Chambers, Assistant Special Agent in Charge U.S. Department of Commerce's Office of Export Enforcement, Boston Field Office, right, speaks to reporters as U.S. Attorney District of Massachusetts Joshua Levy, left, looks on during a news conference, Monday, Dec. 16, 2024, at the federal courthouse, in Boston. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
U.S. Attorney District of Massachusetts Joshua Levy, right, faces reporters as Special Agent in Charge FBI, Boston Division Jodi Cohen, left, looks on during a news conference, Monday, Dec. 16, 2024, at the federal courthouse, in Boston. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
FILE - President Joe Biden, right, stands as an Army carry team moves the transfer case containing the remains of U.S. Army Sgt. Kennedy Ladon Sanders, 24, of Waycross, Ga., at Dover Air Force Base, Del., Friday, Feb. 2, 2024, after Sanders was killed in a drone attack in Jordan on Jan. 28. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)
Special Agent in Charge FBI, Boston Division Jodi Cohen, right, speaks to reporters as U.S. Attorney District of Massachusetts Joshua Levy, left, looks on during a news conference, Monday, Dec. 16, 2024, at the federal courthouse, in Boston. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
FILE - This combination of photos provided by Shawn Sanders, left, and the U.S. Army, center and right, show from left to right, Sgt. Kennedy Sanders, Staff Sgt. William Jerome Rivers and Sgt. Breonna Alexsondria Moffett. The three U.S. Army Reserve soldiers from Georgia, all of whom received posthumous promotions in rank, were killed by a drone strike on Jan. 28, 2024, on their base in Jordan near the Syrian border. The first funeral service was scheduled Tuesday morning, Feb. 13, for Rivers at a Baptist church in Carrollton, west of Atlanta. (Shawn Sanders and U.S. Army via AP, File)
U.S. Attorney District of Massachusetts Joshua Levy, right, faces reporters as Special Agent in Charge FBI, Boston Division Jodi Cohen, left, looks on during a news conference, Monday, Dec. 16, 2024, at the federal courthouse, in Boston. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
Christine Chambers, Assistant Special Agent in Charge U.S. Department of Commerce's Office of Export Enforcement, Boston Field Office, right, speaks to reporters as U.S. Attorney District of Massachusetts Joshua Levy, left, looks on during a news conference, Monday, Dec. 16, 2024, at the federal courthouse, in Boston. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
U.S. Attorney District of Massachusetts Joshua Levy takes questions from reporters during a news conference, Monday, Dec. 16, 2024, at the federal courthouse, in Boston. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
U.S. Attorney District of Massachusetts Joshua Levy, right, faces reporters as Special Agent in Charge FBI, Boston Division Jodi Cohen, left, looks on during a news conference, Monday, Dec. 16, 2024, at the federal courthouse, in Boston. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
FILE - President Joe Biden, right, stands as an Army carry team moves the transfer case containing the remains of U.S. Army Sgt. Kennedy Ladon Sanders, 24, of Waycross, Ga., at Dover Air Force Base, Del., Friday, Feb. 2, 2024, after Sanders was killed in a drone attack in Jordan on Jan. 28. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)
Special Agent in Charge FBI, Boston Division Jodi Cohen, right, speaks to reporters as U.S. Attorney District of Massachusetts Joshua Levy, left, looks on during a news conference, Monday, Dec. 16, 2024, at the federal courthouse, in Boston. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
U.S. Attorney District of Massachusetts Joshua Levy takes questions from reporters during a news conference, Monday, Dec. 16, 2024, at the federal courthouse, in Boston. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
Christine Chambers, Assistant Special Agent in Charge U.S. Department of Commerce's Office of Export Enforcement, Boston Field Office, faces reporters during a news conference, Monday, Dec. 16, 2024, at the federal courthouse, in Boston. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
FILE - This combination of photos provided by Shawn Sanders, left, and the U.S. Army, center and right, show from left to right, Sgt. Kennedy Sanders, Staff Sgt. William Jerome Rivers and Sgt. Breonna Alexsondria Moffett. The three U.S. Army Reserve soldiers from Georgia, all of whom received posthumous promotions in rank, were killed by a drone strike on Jan. 28, 2024, on their base in Jordan near the Syrian border. The first funeral service was scheduled Tuesday morning, Feb. 13, for Rivers at a Baptist church in Carrollton, west of Atlanta. (Shawn Sanders and U.S. Army via AP, File)
U.S. Attorney District of Massachusetts Joshua Levy, right, faces reporters as Special Agent in Charge FBI, Boston Division Jodi Cohen, left, looks on during a news conference, Monday, Dec. 16, 2024, at the federal courthouse, in Boston. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
“We often cite hypothetical risk when we talk about the dangers of American technology getting into dangerous hands,” U.S. Attorney Joshua Levy, the top federal prosecutor in Massachusetts, said at a news conference announcing the charges. “Unfortunately, in this situation, we are not speculating.”
The defendants were identified as Mahdi Mohammad Sadeghi, who prosecutors say works at a Massachusetts-based semiconductor company, and Mohammad Abedininajafabadi, who was arrested Monday in Italy as the Justice Department seeks his extradition to Massachusetts.
Prosecutors allege that Abedininajafabadi, who was also called Adedini in court documents, has deep connections to the Iranian government. They say his Tehran-based company manufactures navigation systems for the military drone program of Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard and that he conspired with Sadeghi to circumvent American export control laws, including through the creation of a front company in Switzerland, and procure sensitive technology into Iran.
Sadeghi, a naturalized U.S. citizen, was arrested Monday in Massachusetts and was ordered to remain detained following a court appearance. His lawyer did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
Both men are charged with export control violations, and Abedini separately faces charges of conspiring to provide material support to Iran.
Three Georgia soldiers — Sgt. William Jerome Rivers of Carrollton, Sgt. Breonna Moffett of Savannah and Sgt. Kennedy Sanders of Waycross — were killed in the Jan. 28 drone attack on a U.S. outpost in northeastern Jordan called Tower 22. U.S. officials have blamed it on the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of Iran-backed militias that includes Kataib Hezbollah.
In the attack, the one-way attack drone may have been mistaken for a U.S. drone that was expected to return back to the logistics base about the same time and was not shot down. Instead, it crashed into living quarters, killing the three soldiers and injuring more than 40.
“To the people who were injured by this attack, to the loved ones and family members of the people who lost their lives, as the son of a combat veteran I humbly hope that today’s charges bring some measure of justice and accountability,” Levy said.
Tower 22 held about 350 U.S. military personnel at the time. It is strategically located between Jordan and Syria, only 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the Iraqi border, and in the months just after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, and Israel’s blistering response in Gaza, Iranian-backed militias intensified their attacks on U.S. military locations in the region.
Following the attack, the U.S. launched a huge counterstrike against 85 sites in Iraq and Syria used by Iran's Revolutionary Guard and Iranian-backed militia and bolstered Tower 22’s defenses.
Tucker and Copp reported from Washington.
Christine Chambers, Assistant Special Agent in Charge U.S. Department of Commerce's Office of Export Enforcement, Boston Field Office, right, speaks to reporters as U.S. Attorney District of Massachusetts Joshua Levy, left, looks on during a news conference, Monday, Dec. 16, 2024, at the federal courthouse, in Boston. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
U.S. Attorney District of Massachusetts Joshua Levy takes questions from reporters during a news conference, Monday, Dec. 16, 2024, at the federal courthouse, in Boston. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
U.S. Attorney District of Massachusetts Joshua Levy, right, faces reporters as Special Agent in Charge FBI, Boston Division Jodi Cohen, left, looks on during a news conference, Monday, Dec. 16, 2024, at the federal courthouse, in Boston. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
FILE - President Joe Biden, right, stands as an Army carry team moves the transfer case containing the remains of U.S. Army Sgt. Kennedy Ladon Sanders, 24, of Waycross, Ga., at Dover Air Force Base, Del., Friday, Feb. 2, 2024, after Sanders was killed in a drone attack in Jordan on Jan. 28. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)
Special Agent in Charge FBI, Boston Division Jodi Cohen, right, speaks to reporters as U.S. Attorney District of Massachusetts Joshua Levy, left, looks on during a news conference, Monday, Dec. 16, 2024, at the federal courthouse, in Boston. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
U.S. Attorney District of Massachusetts Joshua Levy takes questions from reporters during a news conference, Monday, Dec. 16, 2024, at the federal courthouse, in Boston. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
Christine Chambers, Assistant Special Agent in Charge U.S. Department of Commerce's Office of Export Enforcement, Boston Field Office, faces reporters during a news conference, Monday, Dec. 16, 2024, at the federal courthouse, in Boston. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
FILE - This combination of photos provided by Shawn Sanders, left, and the U.S. Army, center and right, show from left to right, Sgt. Kennedy Sanders, Staff Sgt. William Jerome Rivers and Sgt. Breonna Alexsondria Moffett. The three U.S. Army Reserve soldiers from Georgia, all of whom received posthumous promotions in rank, were killed by a drone strike on Jan. 28, 2024, on their base in Jordan near the Syrian border. The first funeral service was scheduled Tuesday morning, Feb. 13, for Rivers at a Baptist church in Carrollton, west of Atlanta. (Shawn Sanders and U.S. Army via AP, File)
U.S. Attorney District of Massachusetts Joshua Levy, right, faces reporters as Special Agent in Charge FBI, Boston Division Jodi Cohen, left, looks on during a news conference, Monday, Dec. 16, 2024, at the federal courthouse, in Boston. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
TORONTO (AP) — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau faced the biggest test of his political career after Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, long one of his most powerful and loyal ministers, resigned from the Cabinet on Monday.
The stunning move raised questions about how much longer the prime minister of nearly 10 years — whose popularity has plummeted due to concerns about inflation and immigration — can stay on as his administration scrambles to deal with incoming U.S. President-elect Donald Trump.
Trudeau swiftly named longtime ally and close friend Dominic LeBlanc, the pubic safety minister who recently joined him at dinner with Trump at Mar-a-Lago, to replace Freeland.
After being sworn in, LeBlanc told reporters he and Trudeau are focused on the cost of living facing Canadians and on finding common ground with Trump on border security and economic issues.
Trudeau later told a room of party supporters that it was "the absolute privilege of my life to serve as your prime minister.”
“I wake up every single day thinking how to make this nation work better for all Canadians," Trudeau said. "It’s why I would show up here, even on one of the toughest days as a party. You know that the only thing that ultimately matters is fighting like hell every single day to make life better for Canadians.”
Jagmeet Singh, leader of the opposition New Democratic Party which Trudeau’s ruling Liberals have relied upon to stay in power, called for him to resign earlier Monday.
“He has to go,” NDP leader Singh said.
The main opposition Conservatives have not called for Trudeau’s resignation but demand an election.
But a no confidence vote in the government is not imminent with Parliament about to break for the holidays .
Freeland, who was also deputy prime minister, said Trudeau had told her on Friday he no longer wanted her to serve as finance minister and offered her another role in the Cabinet. But she said in her resignation letter that the only “honest and viable path” was to leave the Cabinet.
“For the past number of weeks, you and I have found ourselves at odds about the best path forward for Canada,” Freeland said.
Freeland and Trudeau disagreed about a two-month sales tax holiday and 250 Canadian dollar ($175) checks to Canadians that were recently announced. Freeland said Canada is dealing with Trump's threat to impose sweeping 25% tariffs and should eschew “costly political gimmicks" it can “ill afford.”
“Our country is facing a grave challenge,” Freeland said in her letter. “That means keeping our fiscal powder dry today, so we have the reserves we may need for a coming tariff war.”
A Liberal party official said Freeland was offered a position as minister in charge of Canada-U.S. relations without portfolio and without a department. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of not being authorized to speak publicly on the matter, said the position would have been in name only and wouldn't have come with any of the tools Freeland previously had when she negotiated trade with the United States.
Freeland, who chaired a Cabinet committee on U.S. relations, had been set to deliver the fall economic statement and likely announce border security measures designed to help Canada avoid Trump's tariffs. Trump has threatened to impose a 25% tax on all products entering the U.S. from Canada and Mexico unless the neighbors stem the numbers of migrants and drugs.
The statement shows a much larger deficit than expected for the fiscal year and more than a billion for border security.
Trudeau has said he plans on leading the Liberal Party into the next election, but some party members have said they don't want him to run for a fourth term, and Freeland's departure was a huge blow.
Trudeau met with his lawmakers on Monday evening. Later, most of them brushed past reporters, declining to say what was said in the meeting.
Liberal lawmaker Chad Collins said they were “not united."
"There’s still a number of our members that want a change in leadership. I’m one of them,” he said. “I think the only path forward for us is to choose a new leader.”
No Canadian prime minister in more than a century has won four straight terms.
The federal election has to be held before October. The Liberals must rely on the support of at least one other major party in Parliament, because they don’t hold an outright majority themselves. If NDP pulls support, an election can be held at any time.
Singh said all options are on the table.
Trudeau channeled the star power of his father, late Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, in 2015, when he reasserted the country’s liberal identity after almost a decade of Conservative Party rule.
But Canadians are now frustrated by the rising cost of living and other issues, including immigration increases following the country’s emergence from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“As a country we have to project strength,” Ontario Premier Doug Ford said. “It’s chaos right now up in Ottawa.”
Justin Trudeau’s legacy includes opening the doors wide to immigration. He also legalized cannabis and brought in a carbon tax intended to fight climate change.
Freeland also said in her letter that Canadians “know when we are working for them, and they equally know when we are focused on ourselves. Inevitably, our time in government will come to an end."
Separately, Trudeau has been trying to recruit Mark Carney, the former head of the Bank of England and Bank of Canada, to join his government. Carney has long been interested in entering politics and becoming the leader of the Liberal Party. LeBlanc's appointment to finance suggests that won't happen.
“Freeland was not only finance minister but also deputy prime minister and, until a couple of years ago, was seen as Trudeau’s heir as Liberal leader and prime minister,” said Nelson Wiseman, professor emeritus at the University of Toronto.
Daniel Béland, a political science professor at McGill University in Montreal, called Freeland's resignation a political earthquake.
“This is clearly a minority government on life support but, until now, the (opposition) NDP has rejected calls to pull the plug on it," Béland said. "It’s hard to know whether this resignation will force the NDP to rethink its strategy.”
Canada's Minister of Export Promotion, International Trade and Economic Development Mary Ng arrives for a national caucus meeting, in Ottawa, Ontario, Monday, Dec. 16, 2024. (Spencer Colby/The Canadian Press via AP)
Canada's Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry Francois-Philippe Champagne arrives for a national caucus meeting, in Ottawa, Ontario, Monday, Dec. 16, 2024. (Spencer Colby/The Canadian Press via AP)
Canada's Minister of Environment and Climate Change Steven Guilbeault arrives for a national caucus meeting, in Ottawa, Ontario, Monday, Dec. 16, 2024. (Spencer Colby/The Canadian Press via AP)
Chrystia Freeland, who today stepped down as finance minister and deputy prime minister, arrives for a national caucus meeting, in Ottawa, Ontario, Monday, Dec. 16, 2024. (Spencer Colby/The Canadian Press via AP)
Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Gov. Gen. Mary Simon look on at the start of a cabinet swearing in ceremony for Dominic LeBlanc, not shown, who will be sworn in as Finance Minister, at Rideau Hall in Ottawa, Ontario, Monday, Dec. 16, 2024. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press via AP)
Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau looks on at the start of a cabinet swearing in ceremony for Dominic LeBlanc, not shown, who will be sworn in as Finance Minister, at Rideau Hall in Ottawa, Ontario, Monday, Dec. 16, 2024. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press via AP)
Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, left, looks on as Dominic LeBlanc, centre, is sworn in as Finance Minister by Clerk of the Privy Council John Hannaford, right, during a ceremony at Rideau Hall in Ottawa, Ontario, Monday, Dec. 16, 2024. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press via AP)
Sean Fraser, who today stepped down as minister of housing, arrives for a national caucus meeting, in Ottawa, Ontario, Monday, Dec. 16, 2024. (Spencer Colby/The Canadian Press via AP)
Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau participates in a ceremony as Dominic LeBlanc, not shown, is sworn in as Finance Minister, at Rideau Hall in Ottawa, Ontario, Monday, Dec. 16, 2024. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press via AP)
Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau makes his way way his new Finance Minister, Dominic LeBlanc to a national caucus meeting, in Ottawa, Ontario, Monday, Dec. 16, 2024. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press via AP)
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau makes his to a national caucus meeting, in Ottawa, Ontario, Monday, Dec. 16, 2024. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press via AP)
Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Gov. Gen. Mary Simon depart after Dominic LeBlanc, not shown, was sworn in as Finance Minister during a ceremony at Rideau Hall in Ottawa, Ontario, Monday, Dec. 16, 2024. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press via AP)
Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is pictured through glass as he speaks with members of his caucus in Ottawa, Ontario, on Monday, Dec. 16, 2024. (Spencer Colby/The Canadian Press via AP)
Dominic LeBlanc is sworn in as Minister of Finance by Clerk of the Privy Council John Hannaford, centre, as Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Gov. Gen. Mary Simon look on, during a ceremony at Rideau Hall in Ottawa, Ontario, Monday, Dec. 16, 2024. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press via AP)
Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau participates in a signing after Dominic LeBlanc, not shown, was sworn in as Finance Minister at a ceremony at Rideau Hall in Ottawa, Ontario, Monday, Dec. 16, 2024. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press via AP)
Dominic LeBlanc, Canada's Minister of Finance, Public Safety and Intergovernmental Affairs, participates in a news conference after a swearing in ceremony at Rideau Hall, in Ottawa, Ontario, Monday, Dec. 16, 2024. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press via AP)
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, left, looks on as Dominic LeBlanc, center, is sworn in as finance minister by Clerk of the Privy Council John Hannaford, right, during a ceremony at Rideau Hall in Ottawa, Ontario, Monday, Dec. 16, 2024. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press via AP)
Dominic LeBlanc, front left, is sworn in as finance minister by Clerk of the Privy Council John Hannaford, right, during a ceremony at Rideau Hall in Ottawa, Ontario, Monday, Dec. 16, 2024. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press via AP)
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, right, congratulates Dominic LeBlanc, left, after LeBlanc was sworn in as finance minister at a ceremony at Rideau Hall in Ottawa, Ontario, Monday, Dec. 16, 2024. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press via AP)
Minister of Finance and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, right, and Minister of Public Safety, Democratic Institutions and Intergovernmental Affairs Dominic LeBlanc arrive for a press conference on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario, Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024. (Spencer Colby/The Canadian Press via AP)
Minister of Finance and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland delivers remarks on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario, Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024. (Spencer Colby/The Canadian Press via AP)
Minister of Finance and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland delivers remarks on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario, Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024. (Spencer Colby/The Canadian Press via AP)
