Italy releases Iranian wanted by US for allegedly illegally exporting drone technology to Tehran
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Italy’s decision to “withdraw” the arrest of an Iranian engineer wanted by the United States for allegedly illegally exporting cutting-edge technology comes just days after Tehran released an Italian journalist from the notorious Evin prison.
Mohammed Abedini, 38, was indicted in the United States in December on multiple criminal charges stemming from his Swiss company’s involvement in supplying navigation systems for Iranian military drones that were used in attacks. Three American soldiers were killed and 40 injured.
The businessman was arrested at Milan Malpensa Airport in December and jailed pending extradition proceedings.
Citing technical details in the extradition treaty between the United States and Italy, Italian Justice Minister Carlo Nordio said in a statement on Sunday that A petition was submitted to the Milan Court of Appeal asking “to quash Abedini’s arrest”.
A spokesman for the Italian department told the Financial Times that under Italian law the court must abide by Nodio’s decision.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei confirmed that Abedini had been “released and returned home.” Abedini, through his Italian lawyer, has always denied any wrongdoing. Iranian state media said he had arrived in Tehran.
Baghaei expressed his gratitude to “all parties involved” who facilitated Abedini’s release and said Iran’s foreign ministry would spare no effort “to support the rights of Iranian nationals abroad.”
Rome’s decision to release the Iranian engineer comes a week after Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni flew to Mar-a-Lago to talk to US President-elect Donald Trump about 29-year-old Italian journalist Cecilia ·The dilemma of Cecilia Sala.
Tehran claimed that Sala, who holds a valid journalist visa for Iran, was being investigated for unspecified charges of violating the Islamic Republic’s laws, but Italy widely believed that her imprisonment was an attempt to pressure Rome not to send Abedini to prison. To the United States.
Meloni’s government has been facing intense domestic political pressure to release Sala, who was released from prison and returned to Italy on Wednesday, sparking nationwide jubilation and widespread praise for the government.
“This is a complex business in the diplomatic triangle between Iran and the United States,” Meloni told reporters the day after Sala returned home.
Although both Rome and Tehran have publicly denied any connection between Sala and Abedini’s fate, Nathalie Tocci, director of the Institute of International Affairs in Rome, said that the moment Sala returned, Abedini was about to Being released is obvious.
“The moment she was released, everyone knew this was going to happen,” Tocci said, adding that Meloni likely had Trump’s support for such a swap. “Italy did this because it had Trump’s approval,” she said.
Nordio wrote in the court petition that under the U.S.-Italy extradition treaty, “only crimes punishable under the laws of both parties can give rise to extradition, and based on the circumstances of the document, this condition cannot be considered to exist.”
The petition states that U.S. authorities want to put Abedini on trial for violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, a U.S. federal law that is “incompatible with any conduct considered a crime under Italian law.”
In a statement last month, U.S. prosecutors accused Abedini of conspiring with Mahdi Mohammad Sadegh, a dual U.S.-Iranian national employed by a Massachusetts microelectronics manufacturer. , evading export controls and shipping U.S.-origin technology and services to Iran for use in drones and other weapons systems. Sadr was arrested in the United States.
Additional reporting by Bita Ghaffari
