Iranian’s case shows nuances of U.S. laws
HOPEWELL, VA. — Federal agents intercepted the wealthy Iranian entrepreneur at a U.S. airport, questioned him about his business and charged him with illegal export of U.S.-made satellite equipment to his native country.
Seyed Amin Ghorashi Sarvestani pleaded guilty soon afterward, but changed circumstances have now encouraged him to challenge his 30-month prison sentence.
Since his plea, the federal government has approved for export to Iran the very products he was convicted of helping ship, his lawyers say. Then federal prosecutors in New York told a judge after the sentencing hearing that they had mistakenly exaggerated the equipment’s capabilities. The judge hasn’t moved to change the sentence, though lawyers for both sides are continuing to press their arguments.
Whatever happens, the case illustrates the complexity of laws in which actions banned one year may become legal the next and where one government priority, controlling exports in the name of national security, can brush up against another — in this case, promoting Internet freedom for Iranian citizens.
“I am neither an activist nor politically motivated,” Sarvestani, 47, wrote from prison in an email to the Associated Press explaining his business of providing satellitebased Internet communications to Iran. “I am simply a citizen of the Earth who believes the Internet is a true miracle in mankind history.”
Sarvestani’s lawyer, Bill Coffield, conceded that the new regulations, issued after his client had broken the law, did not negate the crimes. But he urged the judge to take into account that the communications gear was for a private company — not the government or the military — that provided satellite-based Internet access. He said the new export licence encompasses the technology Sarvestani provided and said his actions were consistent with U.S. foreign policy.
The government corrected its mistake in a letter to the judge, saying the devices help to monitor and position satellite antennae but do not themselves control satellites.