After Prison Release, ICE Deports Man Convicted of Illegal Exports to Iran
Immigrations and Customs Enforcement deported a man who conspired to illegally ship highly specialized vacuum pump equipment with nuclear applications from the U.S. to Iran, it said. Amirhossein Sairafi was released from federal prison and immediately deported from Chicago via commercial flight, arriving Jan. 4 in Tehran, Iran.
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Sairafi is one of three co-defendants who conspired to ship items from the U.S. to Iran, in violation of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and U.S. sanctions imposed on that country, ICE said. Sairafi pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud the U.S., money laundering and violating the IEEPA. He was sentenced March 7, 2011, to 41 months in federal prison, it said. He was released from the Terre Haute Federal Correctional Institute in Indiana Jan. 3 and taken into ICE custody.
According to ICE, co-defendant Jirair Avanessian owned and operated XVAC, a company located in Glendale, Calif. Avanessian corresponded with co-defendants Farhad Masoumian and Sairafi via email for at least two years to arrange the illegal export of expensive vacuum pumps and related equipment to Iran through a free-trade zone in the United Arab Emirates, ICE said. As part of the conspiracy, Sairafi re-labeled the shipments to mask their true contents and avoid interception by U.S. customs officials.
The vacuum pumps and related devices at issue in this case can potentially be used to enrich uranium for nuclear fuel, ICE said.