TEHRAN: Three men accused of smuggling industrial equipment into Iran in violation of U.S. sanctions have been indicted by a grand jury in Seattle.
Federal prosecutors claim the men Mehran Ghanouni, his father Bahram Ghanouni, who is also known as Ben Anderson, and Peiman Basiri exported $2.3 million worth of parts used in oil production to Iran’s government-owned oil firms.
Basiri is described as a manager with Yavar Sanaye Isfahan, an Iran-based petrochemical supply company founded by Bahram Ghanouni in 1997. The firm, also known as YSI, regularly does business with Iran’s government-owned oil companies.
Ghanouni and his coconspirators sent $2.3 million to Iran falsely claiming they were destined for companies in Kuwait, Iraq and the United Arab Emirates. Prosecutors claim the men attempted to illegally export the equipment on 35 different occasions.
