Iranian national sentenced in Seattle court to 18 months for smuggling US military sonar technology to Iran through China

An Iranian national has been sentenced to 18 months in federal prison for a scheme to illegally obtain sensitive US military sonar technology and ship it to Iran through China in violation of American sanctions.

Reza Dindar, 44, also known as Renda Dindar, was sentenced Friday in US District Court in Seattle after pleading guilty to two counts of exporting goods to an embargoed country and two counts of smuggling goods from the United States, according to the US Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington.

Federal prosecutors said Dindar managed New Port Sourcing Solutions in Xi’an, China, between 2010 and 2014. The company concealed that it was acquiring American products for companies in Iran by falsely claiming that the goods were destined for China.

In 2011 and 2012, Dindar and his co-conspirators used the operation to buy components for three military sonar systems from a company in Washington's Western District, according to his plea agreement. The conspirators allegedly told the American company that a business would use the systems in China. Instead, prosecutors said the equipment was intended to be routed through China and ultimately shipped to Iran in violation of US export controls.

Dindar was originally indicted by a federal grand jury in August 2014, but remained outside US custody for more than a decade. He was arrested in Panama in July 2025 at the request of the United States and extradited to the US in April 2026. Six weeks after his extradition, Dindar pleaded guilty to the four federal charges. Prosecutors requested the 18-month prison sentence, arguing that enforcement of US export controls is critical to national security.

“The export controls put into effect through the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) are essential to the United States’ national security interests,” prosecutors wrote in their sentencing memorandum.

They added that an 18-month custodial sentence would provide deterrence and exceed the national average and median sentences imposed for similar offenses involving defendants with comparable backgrounds. US District Judge Ricardo S. Martinez imposed the requested 18-month sentence along with a $10,000 fine and three years of supervised release. “The offense was well over 10 years ago, and Mr. Dindar spent significant time in a Panamanian prison,” Martinez said during sentencing.

The sanctions at issue stem from executive orders first imposed against Iran in 1995 and reimposed in 2001. They prohibit unauthorized exports or re-exports of US goods, technology, or services to Iran, including transactions involving third countries when the parties know or have reason to know that the goods are ultimately destined for Iran.

The investigation was conducted by the US Department of Commerce Bureau of Industry and Security’s Office of Export Enforcement and Homeland Security Investigations. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs worked with the government of Panama to secure Dindar’s arrest and extradition, while the State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service provided additional assistance. Assistant US Attorney Todd Greenberg prosecuted the case.