Federal authorities have arrested two men, including a dual Iranian American citizen, in connection with a fatal drone strike in Jordan that killed three U.S. service members and injured dozens more.
Joshua Levy, U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts, said at a press conference Monday that the arrests are tied to the attack on Tower 22, a base in northeast Jordan near the Syrian border, in January.
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The strike killed Sgt. William Jerome Rivers, Sgt. Breonna Moffett and Sgt. Kennedy Sanders, all of Georgia. It injured 47 others, some seriously.
Federal officials have said the drone attack was carried out by Iran-backed militant groups.
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Mahdi Mohammad Sadeghi was arrested by the FBI Monday at his Natick home. Another man, identified as Mohammad Abedininajafabadi — who also goes by Mohammad Abedini — was arrested in Milan, Italy.
Both men are charged with conspiring to violate U.S. export laws designed to protect sensitive technologies. Abedini is also charged with conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization resulting in death and providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization resulting in death.
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Federal authorities are working to have Abedini extradited from Italy to face the charges against him.
Investigators allege that the pair conspired to export sensitive technology from a semiconductor manufacturer based in Massachusetts to Abedini's company in Iran, which has strong ties to the Iranian government, military and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The U.S. Attorney's Office alleges that the drone used in the Tower 22 attack was manufactured by Abedini's company and had a navigation system that used that technology.
“We often cite hypothetical risk when we talk about the dangers of American technologies getting into dangerous hands. Unfortunately in this situation, we’re not speculating," Levy said. "As alleged in this criminal complaint the grave potential damage from the leak of American technology overseas came to fruition.
"Those systems were using drones to commit terrorist attacks throughout the world, including Russia's war against Ukraine," said Jodi Cohen, special agent in charge at the FBI's Boston Field Office.
At the advice of his attorneys, Sadeghi did not speak during his arraignment Monday. He was ordered held in custody of U.S. Marshals until a probable cause hearing and detention hearing scheduled for Dec. 27.
Earlier in the day, the FBI could be seen executing a search warrant in Natick following Sadeghi's arrest.
People who live in the area say the neighborhood is normally quiet.
"I'm shocked to see the media here, and, of course, the law enforcement agencies," said neighbor Jon Link. "It's concerning, it makes me want to know what's going on."
Neighbors told NBC10 Boston, both on and off camera, that they didn't really know the residents of the home. They have seen children in the home and know a family lives there, but they weren't sure how many residents there are.
"They kept to themselves," one woman said. "You very rarely saw them, there were never any lights on in the house, and they had a 'Free Gaza' sign that sat on the front lawn at the beginning of the year, but other than that, you never really ever saw them, other than taking the trash out."
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
