Naturalized U.S. Citizen Provided Private FAA, Solar Energy Info

An Iranian-born naturalized U.S. citizen pleaded guilty to providing non-public information to Iranian government and intelligence officials when he was working for a contractor to the FAA between 2017 and 2024.

The Department of Justice said 42-year-old Abouzar Rahmati pleaded guilty in federal court to acting as, and conspiring to act as, an agent of the Iranian government in the U.S. without prior notification to the Attorney General.

Documents presented to the court show that Rahmati worked on behalf of Iranian intelligence operatives and government officials in the U.S., after offering his services to Iran in August 2017 through a former colleague who was a senior Iranian government official who previously worked at the country’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security.

It is not clear whether this was known prior to his employment, but Rahmati was previously a 1st Lt. in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or IRCG, a branch of the Iranian Armed Forces. The IRCG is a designated terrorist group by the U.S. government.

During the period 2017-2024, Rahmati met with Iranian intelligence in Iran under a cover story, secured employment with an FAA contract who had access to non-public, sensitive information about the U.S. aviation sector and also obtained open-source and private materials  about the solar energy industry in the U.S.

While he worked as an FAA contractor, Rahmati downloaded at least 175 GB of files that included access-controlled FAA documents relating to the National Airspace System, Airport Surveillance Radar systems and radio frequency data. He stored the files on removable media that he took to Iran in April 2022 and provided to government officials.

In 2022 he also provided information about solar panels, the FAA, and air traffic control towers to his brother living in Iran to pass on to intelligence officials, the court documents said.

Rahmati is scheduled to be sentenced on August 26, 2025, facing a maximum of 10 years in prison for acting as an agent of a foreign government, with an additional five years for conspiracy.

FMI:  www.justice.gov/