Feds arrest Iranian woman at LAX for allegedly brokering weapons sales for Islamic regime

Federal authorities arrested an Iranian woman at Los Angeles International Airport on Friday, alleging she brokered deals to sell Iranian-made drones, bombs, bomb fuses, assault weapons and millions of rounds of ammunition to Sudan in violation of U.S. sanctions laws, according to a newly unsealed criminal complaint.

“Last night, Shamim Mafi, 44, of Woodland Hills, was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport for trafficking arms on behalf of the government of Iran,” First Assisant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli wrote Sunday on X.

“She is charged with a violation of 50 U.S.C. § 1705 for brokering the sale of drones, bombs, bomb fuses, and millions of rounds of ammunition manufactured by Iran and sold to Sudan.

“If convicted, she faces a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison. Mafi is an Iranian national who became a lawful permanent resident of the United States in 2016. She is expected to make her initial appearance on Monday afternoon in U.S. District Court in downtown L.A. She is presumed innocent until proven guilty in court.”

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Prosecutors say Mafi, granted permanent U.S. residency in California under former President Barack Obama, worked with others on behalf of Iran and was preparing to board an LAX flight to Turkey when she was taken into custody, according to a redacted member of the Iran Counterintelligence Squad of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office.

The complaint accuses Mafi of conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and says she allegedly brokered a contract worth more than $70.6 million for the sale of Iranian-made Mohajer-6 armed drones to Sudan’s Ministry of Defense.

Investigators allege she also helped arrange the sale of 55,000 bomb fuses to the Sudanese military and multiple ammunition deals, including 10 million rounds of AK-47 ammunition and a separate proposed contract for 240 million rounds.

“MAFI is a lawful permanent resident in the United States who maintains a residence in Woodland Hills, California, and travels frequently to Iran, Turkey, Oman, and other countries,” the 68-page complaint read. “As set forth below, MAFI executed her illegal weapons brokering scheme from multiple locations, including within the Central District of California.

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Mafi, born in Iran, relocated to Istanbul and eventually ended up in the U.S., where she is not a citizen. She has a sordid history and connection to Iranian government and intelligence.

“During interviews with U.S. Customs and Border Control (‘CBP’) officers and the FBI, MAFI acknowledged communicating with an officer of Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security (‘MOIS Officer-1’),” the complaint alleged.

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“Mafi stated that she is ‘more useful to them [i.e., MOIS] in Iran than in the United States,’ and records obtained pursuant to a search warrant show approximately 62 bidirectional contacts between Mafi and MOIS Officer-1’s phone numbers between December 2022 and June 2025.”

According to the FBI affidavit, Mafi and her alleged co-conspirators used an Oman-based company, Atlas International Business LLC, to facilitate the deals and routed payments through Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, which investigators say was intended to evade U.S. sanctions.

The filing also alleges Mafi coordinated with figures tied to Iran’s government, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and maintained contact with an officer from Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security.

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Federal agents said Mafi never obtained the required U.S. licenses to broker such transactions involving Iranian goods or defense articles. The complaint says she was scheduled to depart LAX for Istanbul on April 18 and that investigators believed evidence of the alleged scheme would be found on her person and at her residence.