Overview
- Shamim Mafi, 44, was taken into custody at Los Angeles International Airport on Saturday as she prepared to board a flight to Istanbul, and she is charged under U.S. sanctions law carrying a potential 20-year sentence.
- Prosecutors say she used an Oman-registered firm, Atlas International Business, to broker sales and routed money through Turkey and the UAE to hide the Iran origin of the weapons.
- Court filings describe a contract worth more than $70 million for Mohajer-6 armed drones and a separate transfer of about 55,000 bomb fuses to Sudan’s Ministry of Defense.
- Investigators cite phone and financial records that point to repeated contacts with Iran’s intelligence ministry and coordination with IRGC-linked figures, including roughly 62 tracked communications from late 2022 to mid-2025.
- Mafi, an Iranian national and U.S. lawful permanent resident since 2016, is set for an initial appearance in federal court in Los Angeles on Monday as the DOJ and FBI continue the investigation, and she remains presumed innocent.