SEATTLE, Wash. — More than a decade after federal prosecutors indicted him, a 44-year-old Iranian national will spend 18 months in prison for a scheme to obtain sensitive U.S. technology and route it to Iran through China.
Reza Dindar, also known as Renda Dindar, pleaded guilty this year after authorities arrested him in Panama and extradited him to the United States.
U.S. District Judge Ricardo S. Martinez sentenced Dindar Friday in Seattle to 18 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. The judge also ordered him to pay a $10,000 fine.
“The export controls put into effect through the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) are essential to the United States’ national security interests. Therefore, it is important for the Court’s sentence to provide adequate deterrence against similar offenses moving forward. A custodial sentence of 18 months would achieve the statutory goal of deterrence by exceeding the national average and median sentences for similar offenses committed by defendants with similar backgrounds.”
Federal Prosecutors, Court Filing
The case began with a federal grand jury indictment in August 2014. More than 10 years later, Panamanian authorities arrested Dindar in July 2025 at the request of the United States.
The U.S. extradited Dindar in April 2026. About six weeks later, he pleaded guilty to two counts of exporting goods to an embargoed country and two counts of smuggling goods from the United States.
Equipment Bound for Iran
According to court records, Dindar operated a business called New Port Sourcing Solutions in Xi’an, China, between 2010 and 2014.
Prosecutors said Dindar used the company to conceal purchases that he intended for companies in Iran. He falsely told U.S. suppliers that the goods would go to China.
In 2011 and 2012, Dindar and his coconspirators used that deception to purchase parts for three military sonar systems from a business in the Western District of Washington.
The group claimed a Chinese company would use the systems. Instead, according to Dindar’s plea agreement, they planned to send the parts through China and ultimately re-export them to Iran.
That plan violated U.S. export controls and sanctions against Iran.
Sanctions Prohibited Indirect Shipments
The case involves sanctions that the president imposed through executive orders in March 1995 and reimposed in 2001.
Those orders prohibit unauthorized exports, re-exports, sales or supplies of goods, technology and services from the United States to Iran or the Iranian government.
The restrictions also cover transactions involving third countries when someone knows, or has reason to know, that the goods will ultimately reach Iran.
Federal prosecutors cited national security concerns when they asked Martinez to impose an 18-month prison sentence.
Judge Notes Age of Case
Martinez acknowledged that more than a decade had passed since the underlying offenses.
“The offense was well over 10 years ago and Mr. Dindar spent significant time in a Panamanian prison.”
Ricardo S. Martinez, U.S. District Judge
Dindar will serve three years of supervised release after completing his 18-month prison term.
Agencies Investigated Export Scheme
The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security Office of Export Enforcement and Homeland Security Investigations investigated the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Todd Greenberg is prosecuting Dindar.
The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs worked with the government of Panama to secure Dindar’s arrest and extradition. The State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service also provided significant assistance.
The case shows how U.S. export controls can reach transactions that use third countries as intermediaries when officials determine that restricted goods ultimately target a sanctioned country.
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