Former U.S. Defense Contractor Arrested For Trying To Smuggle F-35 Blueprints And Documents To Iran

F35 Joint Strike Fighter (Reuters / Lockheed Martin)

Defense Contractor Tried to Smuggle F-35 Documents to Iran, Report Says -- US News And World Report

Iranian-American caught with 44 boxes full of sensitive documents destined for Iran

A defense contractor who holds both U.S. and Iranian passports has been caught allegedly trying to smuggle secret documents related to the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Program into Iran.

Mozaffar Khazaee is a dual citizen of both Iran and the U.S. who worked for a major American defense contractor. He allegedly tried to ship 44 boxes full of "sensitive technical manuals, specification sheets, and other proprietary material" to Iran, reports ABC News, citing an affidavit filed by a special agent of Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations division.

Khazaee reportedly was trying to fly to Iran by way of Germany when he was arrested last week. Customs officials in November inspected a shipment Khazaee had sent from Connecticut to California that he documented as containing books, suitcases and other items, but the boxes actually contained reams of documents housed in binders and manuals related to the the development of the highly advanced Joint Strike Fighter aircraft development program. A collection of partner nations, including the U.K., Italy and Canada, have invested billions in the program and others, such as Israel and Japan, have expressed interest in purchasing variants of the F-35.

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More News On Former U.S. Defense Contractor Being Arrested For Trying To Smuggle F-35 Blueprints And Documents To Iran

Man charged with attempting to smuggle F-35 blueprints to Iran -- RT
Feds: Ex-defense contractor stole F-35 documents, tried to send to Iran -- Stars and Stripes/The Hartford (Conn.) Courant
US: Defense Contractor Tried to Smuggle F-35 Blueprints to Iran -- ABC News
U.S. attorney's office accuses man of trying to ship military documents to Iran -- CNN
U.S. Defense contractor suspected of smuggling plans for air force's $400 billion fighter jet to Iran -- Daily Mail
Man arrested in N.J. for attempted smuggling of F-35 data to Iran -- Washington Times
Man Arrested for Attempted Transfer of F-35 Data to Iran -- Defense News
American-Iranian Defense Contractor 'Spied for Iran' -- Arutz Sheva