A naturalized US citizen residing in Great Falls, Virginia, has admitted to collaborating with Iranian government and intelligence officials while working as a contractor for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) between 2017 and 2024. Abouzar Rahmati, 42, pleaded guilty in federal court to conspiring to act and acting as an agent of the Iranian government in the US without prior notification to the Attorney General.
Rahmati, who previously served as a 1st Lt. in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a designated terrorist group by the US government, worked closely with Iranian intelligence operatives and government officials in the US. He engaged in activities such as meeting with Iranian intelligence in Iran, communicating with Iranian authorities using a cover story, obtaining employment with an FAA contractor to access sensitive information about the US aviation sector, and providing open-source and non-public materials about the US solar energy industry to intelligence officers.
In August 2017, Rahmati offered his services to Iran through a former colleague who was a senior Iranian government official with ties to the Ministry of Intelligence and Security. Subsequently, he traveled to Iran to meet with intelligence operatives and government officials, agreeing to gather and provide information about the US solar industry.
Upon his return to the US in early 2018, Rahmati collected private and open-source materials related to the US solar industry, which he then shared with Iran’s Vice President for Science and Technology. As an FAA contractor, he downloaded sensitive access-controlled FAA documents relating to the National Aerospace System, Airport Surveillance Radar systems, and radio frequency data, storing them on removable media that he took to Iran in April 2022.
Rahmati also provided information about solar energy, solar panels, the FAA, US airports, and air traffic control towers to his brother in Iran in April 2022, who then passed the files to intelligence officials on Rahmati’s behalf. He is set to be sentenced on August 26, facing a maximum of 10 years in prison for acting as an agent of a foreign government and up to five years in prison for conspiracy.
