WANA (Apr 17) – An American citizen, Abuzar Rahmati, is facing trial for allegedly working as an agent for Iran and sharing sensitive information. Rahmati, a 34-year-old resident of Virginia, appeared before a federal court in the United States this morning (Thursday), where he admitted to operating as an Iranian agent without prior notification to the U.S. Attorney General between 2017 and 2024.

 

Rahmati, who has worked as a contractor for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) during these years, is accused of providing Iran with confidential information regarding the U.S. aviation sector. Court documents claim that from December 2017 to June 2024, Rahmati used his access to sensitive, non-public data about U.S. aviation to share details about the American solar energy industry with Iran.

 

The U.S. Department of Justice reported that Rahmati traveled to Iran during his tenure as an FAA contractor. He allegedly downloaded over 175 gigabytes of files, including sensitive FAA documents related to the National Airspace System (NAS), airport radar surveillance systems, and radio frequency data.

 

The Justice Department claims that Rahmati stored these files on portable media and transported them to Iran in April 2022, where he provided them to Iranian authorities.

 

Rahmati is scheduled to stand trial on August 26.