US seizes nearly $600k in crypto from Iranian tied to IRGC drones
Federal prosecutors in Massachusetts said on Friday they had seized $584,741 in cryptocurrency from an Iranian national tied to the Revolutionary Guards’ drone manufacturing program.
Federal prosecutors in Massachusetts said on Friday they had seized $584,741 in cryptocurrency from an Iranian national tied to the Revolutionary Guards’ drone manufacturing program.
The assets belonged to Mohammad Abedini Najafabadi, also known as Mohammad Abedini, 39, of Tehran.
“The government seized USDT (Tether) from an un-hosted cryptocurrency wallet alleged to be controlled by Abedini,” the Justice Department announced in a statement on Thursday.
USDT (Tether) is a stablecoin, meaning its value is tied to the US dollar. The cryptocurrency has been issued by Tether Limited since 2014.
Abedini is the founder and managing director of San’at Danesh Rahpooyan Aflak Co. (SDRA), a company that manufactures navigation system modules, including the Sepehr Navigation System (SNS), used in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) military drone program, the Justice Department alleged.
The IRGC has been designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) by the United States since 2019.
The SNS is used in guided rockets and missile-integrated navigation systems. In January 2024, three US service members were killed in an attack Washington blamed on the IRGC. A drone recovered from the attack was identified as a Shahed drone equipped with the SNS guidance system.
The strike targeted Tower 22, a US military base in northern Jordan, injuring more than 40 others.
“US law authorizes the forfeiture of all assets of individuals or entities engaged in planning or perpetrating a federal crime of terrorism against the United States, its citizens or residents, or their property, and all assets, foreign or domestic, affording any person a source of influence over any such entity,” the Justice Department said.
The United States charged Abedini in 2024 with conspiring to export sophisticated electronic components from the US to Iran and providing material support to a designated FTO.
He was arrested in Italy in December 2024 at the request of the United States, which sought his extradition. Abedini was released in January 2025 after Italy appeared to swap him for an Italian journalist detained in Tehran.
Italian authorities determined that violations of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act are not punishable under Italian law, in line with the Italy–US extradition treaty.
