Counterintelligence & Tradecraft — 2026-06-04

FBI Disrupts Iranian Technology Procurement Network Operating Through Rome as Part of Economic Fury Campaign

BLUFDual-citizenship intermediaries in NATO states exploit jurisdictional seams that U.S. sanctions cannot close without host-nation enforcement cooperation that remains structurally absent.

Treasury's OFAC, the State Department, and the FBI Los Angeles Field Office on May 29 designated 12 persons and entities under Economic Fury, targeting an Iran-based network that impersonated U.S. businesses to procure export-restricted technology for MODAFL 123. Network operator Ali Majd Sepehr, via his company Sorena Hushmand Samaneh, defrauded dozens of U.S. IT vendors of millions of dollars to acquire network security software, spectrum analyzers, and non-linear junction detectors for MODAFL-controlled SAAFTA 1. Intermediary Mohammadali Mansour Darehshiri used two Dubai-based front companies to receive and re-export shipments to Iran 1. Italy-based Iranian national Saied Zahedi, who Decode39 reports also holds Italian citizenship, financed the domain registrations Sepehr used to impersonate U.S. businesses and paid freight forwarding warehouses in the scheme 14.

Analysis
Zahedi's dual Italian citizenship positions him outside U.S. sanctions reach, creating a jurisdictional gap Italian authorities must close independently. The acquisition target set, spectrum analyzers and non-linear junction detectors, points to Iranian counterintelligence hardening after prior program compromise, not offensive capability development. MODAFL's primary goal was shielding communications from penetration operations that have repeatedly compromised sensitive programs. Detection required U.S. financial infrastructure monitoring that European counterparts lack. The factual record derives entirely from U.S. government designation documents, with no source independent of the prosecutorial record. Sepehr's corporate impersonation methodology is replicable with minimal adaptation after this network's disruption.

4 sources

Economic Fury Targets Iranian Network Defrauding U.S. Firms to Supply Tehran's Military - U.S. Department of the Treasury
U.S. Targets Iranian Network Defrauding U.S. Firms - Voice of America
Sanctioning Iranian-Affiliated Fraud Network Targeting American Companies - U.S. Department of State
The Zahedi case puts Rome inside Irans tech war - Decode39