A federal jury in Boston convicted Mahdi Mohammad Sadeghi on three of five unlawful-export counts on July 13, finding the former Analog Devices engineer helped an Iranian associate evade US export-control laws; sentencing is set for Oct. 13 and he remains free until then [1]. Sadeghi, a 43-year-old naturalized US citizen and father of two who lost his job over the charges, was acquitted on two counts [1].

The split verdict marks the boundary the trial itself enforced. Prosecutors had hoped to introduce evidence about an Iranian drone used in a 2024 attack that killed three US service members at a base in Jordan, but the judge ruled they could offer only general evidence that the technology from the Tehran-based company of co-defendant Mohammad Abedininajafabadi had "potential military applications, including for drones" [1]. At a February hearing, prosecutors conceded they lacked evidence Sadeghi "knew anything" about the exported technology being used on the Jordan drone [1].

That distinction is where the coverage diverges. Online wartime discourse collapses the conviction into proof that Sadeghi's chips flew on the weapon that killed the soldiers; the court record establishes only that he broke export rules tied to his relationship with Abedini. As Assistant US Attorney Jared Dolan told jurors, the illegal acts were the "fruits of this relationship" [1]. Abedini, arrested in Italy and not on trial here, is separately charged with material support resulting in the three deaths [1].

-- Samuel Crane, Washington