Ahmadreza Mohammadi-Doostdar, Espionage, California 2017

Two men, accused of spying on Israeli and Jewish facilities in the US, have been charged with acting as agents of the Iranian government without notification.

According to court documents, Ahmadreza Mohammadi-Doostdar, a 38-year-old dual US-Iranian citizen, and Majid Ghorbani, a 59-year-old Iranian citizen living in California, allegedly conducted covert surveillance of Israeli and Jewish facilities in the US and collected identifying information about American citizens who are members of the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK).

The charges were announced by Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Demers, U.S. Attorney Jessie K. Liu for the District of Columbia, and Acting Executive Assistant Director Michael McGarrity of the FBI’s National Security Branch.

“The National Security Division is committed to protecting the United States from individuals within our country who unlawfully act on behalf of hostile foreign nations,” said Assistant Attorney General Demers. “Doostdar and Ghorbani are alleged to have acted on behalf of Iran, including by conducting surveillance of political opponents and engaging in other activities that could put Americans at risk. With their arrest and these charges, we are seeking to hold the defendants accountable.”

The indictment charged Doostdar and Ghorbani with knowingly acting as agents of the government of Iran without prior notification to the Attorney General, providing services to Iran in violation of U.S. sanctions, and conspiracy.

According to the indictment, Doostdar traveled to the United States from Iran in order to collect intelligence information about entities and individuals considered by the government of Iran to be enemies of that regime, including Israeli and Jewish interests, and individuals associated with the MEK.

Doostdar is alleged to have conducted surveillance of the Rohr Chabad House, a Jewish institution located in Chicago, and Ghorbani is alleged to have attended a MEK rally in New York City and photographed individuals participating in the protest. In December 2017, Doostdar paid Ghorbani approximately $2,000 in cash and Ghorbani delivered to him 28 photographs taken at the September 2017 MEK rally, many of which contained hand-written annotations identifying the individuals who appeared in the photos.

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