Two arrested, charged for involvement in drone strike that killed 3 Georgia soldiers in January

Drone Attacks Criminal Charges FILE - This combination of photos provided by Shawn Sanders, left, and the U.S. Army, center and right, show from left to right, Sgt. Kennedy Sanders, Staff Sgt. William Jerome Rivers and Sgt. Breonna Alexsondria Moffett. The three U.S. Army Reserve soldiers from Georgia, all of whom received posthumous promotions in rank, were killed by a drone strike on Jan. 28, 2024, on their base in Jordan near the Syrian border. The first funeral service was scheduled Tuesday morning, Feb. 13, for Rivers at a Baptist church in Carrollton, west of Atlanta. (Shawn Sanders and U.S. Army via AP, File) (Uncredited/AP)

By Chase Berger

BOSTON — Two men have been arrested and charged for their involvement in the Jordan air strike that killed three soldiers from Georgia on Jan. 28, the Justice Department announced Monday.

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According to officials, the men exported sensitive technology to Iran that was used in the strike.

Mahdi Mohammad Sadeghi, a dual U.S./Iranian citizen, and Mohammad Abedininajafabadi, an Iranian man, were arrested after FBI specialists analyzed the drone. Officials said they traced the navigation system to an Iranian company operated by Abedininajafabad.

According to U.S. Attorney Joshua Levy, Abedininajafabad’s company allegedly has “deep connections” to the Iranian government, the Iranian military, and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

The U.S. has designated the IRGC as a foreign terrorist organization.

Levy said the men are charged with “conspiring to violate U.S. export laws designed to protect sensitive technologies.” Abedininajafabadi faces separate charges of conspiring to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization resulting in death.

“We often cite hypothetical risk when we talk about the dangers of American technology getting into dangerous hands,” Levy said at a news conference. “Unfortunately, in this situation, we are not speculating.”

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According to the Associated Press, officials blamed the drone attack on the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of Iran-backed militias that includes Kataib Hezbollah.

The attack killed three soldiers from Georgia: Sgt. William Jerome Rivers of Carrollton, Sgt. Breonna Moffett of Savannah, and Sgt. Kennedy Sanders of Waycross.

READ: A moment of silence in Waycross; fallen soldiers return home after deadly drone strike in Jordan

It also injured more than 40 other soldiers.

Abedininajafabad was arrested in Italy on Monday. The Justice Department is seeking his extradition to Massachusetts.

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