Iranian national sentenced to 18 months for scheme to send military sonar parts from WA business to Iran

A 44-year-old Iranian national was sentenced Friday to 18 months in prison for his scheme to violate trade sanctions against Iran.

Reza Dindar was indicted by the grand jury in August 2014 and ultimately arrested in Panama in July 2025 at the request of the United States, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced.

Dindar was extradited to the U.S. in April, and six weeks later, he pleaded guilty to two counts of exporting to an embargoed country and two counts of smuggling goods from the United States.

“The offense was well over 10 years ago, and Mr. Dindar spent significant time in a Panamanian prison,” U.S. District Judge Ricardo S. Martinez said at the sentencing hearing.

Martinez imposed a $10,000 fine and three years of supervised release to follow Dindar’s prison term.

Prosecutors say the sentence should deter others from violating export controls

Dindar’s smuggling in the case violated sanctions against Iran imposed by the President’s Executive Order in March 1995, and reimposed in 2001, according to records filed in the case.

“The orders prohibit the unauthorized exportation, re-exportation, sale, or supply, directly or indirectly, from the United States of any goods, technology, or services to Iran or the Government of Iran; as well as the exportation or supply of goods, technology, or services to persons in third countries knowing or with reason to know that the goods, technology or services are intended for supply, trans-shipment, or re-exportation to Iran,” the DOJ stated.

Between 2010 and 2014, Dindar managed a business called New Port Sourcing Solutions in Xi’an, China, according to the plea agreement.

The company hid that it was procuring items in the U.S. for companies in Iran. The company also fraudulently claimed the goods were destined for China.

In 2011 and 2012, Dindar and his co-conspirators used deception to purchase parts for three military sonar systems from a business in Washington. Dindar and his co-conspirators claimed that the systems were to be used by a company in China. Instead, the group had planned to ship the parts through China to Iran, violating export controls.

“The export controls put into effect through the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) are essential to the United States’ national security interests,” prosecutors wrote, asking for an 18-month prison sentence.

“Therefore, it is important for the Court’s sentence to provide adequate deterrence against similar offenses moving forward,” prosecutors added. “A custodial sentence of 18 months would achieve the statutory goal of deterrence by exceeding the national average and median sentences for similar offenses committed by defendants with similar backgrounds.”

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