Authorities Arrest Iranian Woman for Traffling Drones and Bombs to Sudan
Authorities arrested Shamim Mafi, a 44-year-old Iranian woman, at Los Angeles International Airport on Saturday night. She faces charges for allegedly trafficking deadly drones and bombs to Tehran. Officials say she brokered sales of weapons, bomb fuses, and millions of ammunition rounds for Sudan. The US Attorney for the Central District of California announced these details on Sunday.
Mafi departed Iran in 2013 and gained permanent US residency in 2016 during the Obama administration. Court records obtained by the New York Post claim she used an Oman-registered firm called Atlas International Business for these deals as recently as 2025. One contract exceeded $70 million for Mohajer-6 armed drones produced by Iran's Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics. These items went to the Sudanese Ministry of Defense, which fights a violent civil war since 2023.
Phone records show Mafi contacted Iran's Ministry of Intelligence and Security between December 2022 and June 2025. While in America, she posted photos of her lavish lifestyle, including a picture with a $100,000 Mercedes-Benz. Investigators heard her claim she never worked for Iran on American soil. Prosecutors state she lacked legal clearance to oversee these dangerous weapon sales.
Earlier probes revealed Tehran seized properties Mafi inherited from her father in 2020. The Ministry of Intelligence allegedly told her to open a US business to buy those properties back. Prosecutors say Iran even offered to fund her startup costs. Mafi reportedly told spies she was more useful in Tehran than in the United States. Her company allegedly routed sales through Turkey and the United Arab Emirates to avoid US detection.
She violated the Conspiracy to Violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. In November 2023, she posted a photo next to Feridun Öncel, the MISIAD General President. Öncel captioned the image as a beneficial business talk with a Sudanese businessman for the country's economy. Before handcuffs secured her, she planned a flight to Istanbul.
In a statement, he described Mafi as "our best friend from America." If a conviction occurs, she faces a potential maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison. Prosecutors confirmed she is scheduled to appear before the US District Court in Los Angeles this Monday. Attempts to reach the US Attorney for the Central District of California for comment were unsuccessful. Representatives for Mafi could not be immediately contacted to provide a response. The outcome of this case highlights how access to information and legal representation can be strictly limited, leaving communities to wonder about the full scope of the charges and the potential long-term impact on their members.