Iranian woman arrested in US for allegedly trafficking arms to Sudan

Iranian woman arrested in US for allegedly trafficking arms to Sudan24 minutes agoShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleBasillioh RukangaAvaaz via Getty ImagesThe arms were allegedly sold to the Sudanese armyUS authorities have arrested an Iranian woman for trafficking arms to Sudan on behalf of her country, federal prosecutors have said.Shamim Mafi, 44, was arrested at Los Angeles airport on Saturday and is accused of "brokering the sale of drones, bombs, bomb fuses, and millions of rounds of ammunition manufactured by Iran and sold to Sudan", First Assistant US Attorney Bill Essayli said on X.The alleged sales were to Sudan's defence ministry, including a €60m ($70m; £52m) drone contract, court documents show.Mafi, who has not yet commented on the allegations, is expected to appear in court later on Monday. If convicted, she could face a jail sentence of up to 20 years.An FBI criminal complaint filed in court, a copy of which was obtained by the BBC, says Mafi coordinated a "Sudanese delegation's travel to Iran, received over €6m in payments, and issued payment receipts" for the drone deal.She submitted "a letter of intent" to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to broker the sale of 55,000 bomb fuses to Sudan's defence ministry, it adds.According to Essayli, Mafi is "an Iranian national who became a lawful permanent resident of the United States in 2016".A simple guide to what is happening in SudanShe is accused of breaching US sanctions against Iran, which prohibit US persons from transacting or dealing in Iranian goods or services without authorisation.Court documents describe her "repeated use of informal exchange entities across multiple transactions" in the arms deals as a "deliberate effort... to evade US sanctions".She is said to have been ready to board a flight from California to Turkey when she was arrested.Essayli's post included images of a woman presumed to...