Former FAA Contractor Indicted for Espionage | Aero-News Network
Aero-News Network
RSS icon RSS feed
podcast icon MP3 podcast
Subscribe Aero-News e-mail Newsletter Subscribe

Airborne Unlimited -- Most Recent Daily Episodes

Episode Date

Airborne-Monday

Airborne-Tuesday

Airborne-Wednesday Airborne-Thursday

Airborne-Friday

Airborne On YouTube

Airborne-Unlimited-02.03.25

Airborne-NextGen-02.04.25

Airborne-Unlimited-02.05.25

Airborne-FlightTraining-02.06.25

Airborne-Unlimited-02.07.25

Mon, Sep 30, 2024

Former FAA Contractor Indicted for Espionage

Abouzar Rahmati Charged as an Agent of the Iranian Government

A former FAA contractor was indicted on September 27 for acting as an illegal agent of the Iranian government, commented the US Department of Justice. Abouzar Rahmati has allegedly been conspiring with Iranian officials since 2017.

42-year-old Rahmati is a naturalized US citizen and resident of Great Falls, Virginia. Records show that he was meeting with the Iranian government from at least December 2017 through June 24 and committing acts of conspiracy with intelligence operatives, including leaking confidential U.S. solar energy information.

Rahmati previously served as a First Lieutenant for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). He was a part of this counterintelligence organization from June 2009 to May 2010. The IRGC was named a Foreign Terrorist Organization by US government officials in April 2019 due to its involvement in Hezbollah and Hamas attacks, killings, and arrests. The group reports only to the Supreme Leader of Iran.

The recent prosecution suggests that Rahmati struck up communications with an Iranian government official who he knew from school. Four months later, he visited Iran under the premise that he was conducting research with colleagues. In reality, however, the trip was to hand over energy data to intelligence.

Upon his return to the US, Rahmati applied for several government roles -- specifically those that would give him access to otherwise private information. This led to him being accepted as a contractor for the FAA’s National Airspace System (NAS), where he stole documents explaining the NAS's power and electrical infrastructure. These materials and more were given to Iran in 2022.

“As alleged, the defendant conspired with Iranian officials and intelligence operatives, even lying to obtain employment as a U.S. government contractor only to then share sensitive government materials with Iran,” commented Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen from the DoJ National Security Division. “When undisclosed agents of Iran or any other foreign government seek to infiltrate American companies or government agencies, the Justice Department will use every available tool to identify them and bring them to justice.”

This case is under ongoing investigation by the FBI and the FAA Office of Investigations and Professional Responsibility.

FMI: www.faa.gov

Advertisement

More News

Aero-News: Quote of the Day (02.09.25)

“We are very pleased to enter into this MoU agreement with Gogo, especially as we aim to offer our Airbus ACJ operators and business leaders the highest standard connectivity>[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Linx (02.09.25)

Aero Linx: Rhode Island Pilots Association (RIPA) The Rhode Island Pilots Association represents the GA community based at seven airports in the State of Rhode Island. Our mission >[...]

Airborne-Flight Training 02.06.25: AeroEducate, Mil KingAirs, PilotWorkshops

Also: Lufthansa Dreamliner Sim, ATC Can't Quit, NBAA Leadership, Acting FAA Head ierra Space is becoming the newest content provider for EAA’s AeroEducate online resource and>[...]

Airborne 02.05.25: No Outs 4 ATC, Sporty's Acquires, 'Black' Boxes

Also: NOTAM System Restored, Textron Mil Trainers, Axiom Space, Police Rescues Cirrus Pax The Trump administration’s attempt at downsizing the federal workforce has run into >[...]

Airborne 02.03.25: Drone Pilot Bust, New Acting FAA Boss, PNE Lear Accident

Also: 2 Blimps For OSH, USCG-Airbus Deal, Japan Buys T-6s, Starliner Boss Replaced A 56-year-old California man recently pled guilty after he flew his drone into a Super Scooper fi>[...]

blog comments powered by Disqus



Advertisement

Advertisement

Podcasts

Advertisement

© 2007 - 2025 Web Development & Design by Pauli Systems, LC