Former FAA Contractor, Naturalized US Citizen, Pleads Guilty to Spying for Iran

The ex-contractor for Federal Aviation Administration is facing up to 15 years in prison, DOJ says

A former Federal Aviation Administration contractor pleaded guilty on Wednesday to acting as a secret agent for Iran, supplying Tehran with sensitive U.S. aviation and energy data over a seven-year span.

Abouzar Rahmati, a 42-year-old naturalized U.S. citizen, admitted in federal court to conspiring to act and acting as an agent of the Iranian government while working as an FAA contractor in the United States. The Department of Justice said Rahmati passed non-public data about the U.S. aviation sector and solar energy industry to Iranian intelligence officials from at least December 2017 through June 2024.

The case comes as President Donald Trump has ramped up his “maximum pressure” campaign on Iran to dismantle its nuclear program. Trump threatened the Islamic Republic with military action after Tehran last month rejected direct negotiations with Washington. “If they don’t make a deal, there will be bombing,” Trump said. “It will be bombing the likes of which they have never seen before.”

Rahmati, scheduled to be sentenced on August 26, is facing up to 10 years in prison for acting as a foreign agent and up to 5 years for conspiracy.

He once served as a first lieutenant in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a U.S.-designated terrorist organization, according to the New York Post.

Prosecutors said Rahmati, while working as an FAA contractor, downloaded at least 172 GB of files, including restricted documents on the U.S. National Aerospace System, Airport Surveillance Radar systems, and radio frequency data. Rahmati stored the files on “removable media” that he gave to Iranian officials in April 2022, according to the DOJ.

Rahmati also provided Iran with private materials related to the U.S. solar industry, as well as information about the FAA, airports, and air traffic control towers, the DOJ said.