Two charged over Iran-linked drone attack that killed US troops in Jordan

US prosecutors have charged two men with conspiring to export sensitive technology to Iran that was used in a drone attack in Jordan that killed three American soldiers and injured dozens of others earlier this year.

The pair — one of whom is a dual Iranian-American citizen — were arrested following an FBI investigation that traced the drone’s navigation system to an Iranian company managed by one of the defendants, who relied on parts and technology funnelled into the country by his alleged co-conspirator, the US Justice Department said on Monday.

"We often cite hypothetical risk when we talk about the dangers of American technology getting into dangerous hands. Unfortunately, in this situation, we are not speculating," said US Attorney Joshua Levy, the top federal prosecutor in Massachusetts.

The defendants have been identified as Mahdi Mohammed Sadeghi, an employee at a Massachusetts-based semiconductor company, and Mohammed Abedininajafabadi, also known as Adedini, who was arrested in Italy as the US Justice Department seeks his extradition to Massachusetts.

Prosecutors say Abedininajafabadi’s Tehran-based company manufactures navigation systems for drones used by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard. They accuse him of working with Sadeghi to evade US export laws by using a Swiss front company to procure the sensitive technology. 

Sadeghi, a naturalised US citizen, was arrested in Massachusetts on Monday and remanded into custody following a brief court appearance. 

While both men have been charged with export control violations, Abedininajafabadi faces additional charges of conspiring to provide material support to Iran. 

The drone attack on 28 January targeted a US outpost in northeast Jordan called Tower 22, located near the country's border with Syria and Iraq.

Three soldiers, Sgt. William Jerome Rivers, Sgt. Breonna Moffett, and Sgt. Kennedy Sanders, were killed when the drone struck living quarters. At least 40 others were hurt. 

The one-way attack drone may have been mistaken for a US drone that was scheduled to return to the logistics base around the same time and was therefore not intercepted. 

"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," said US Attorney Levy.

US officials have blamed the attack on the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a coalition of Iran-backed militias, including Kataib Hezbollah. 

The drone stroke was the first deadly strike against US forces since the Israel-Hamas war started in October 2023. In the months after war broke out, Iranian-backed militias escalated their attacks on US military sites in the region. 

Following the attack, the US launched a huge counterstrike targeting 85 sites in Iraq and Syria used by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and affiliated militias, while also strengthening Tower 22’s defences.