Amir Hossein Ardebili

After the undercover meetings in Tbilisi, Ardebili was arrested by Georgian officials and held for extradition, which occurred in January 2008.

Ardebili was indicted in the United States and charged with offenses relating to the export of weapons components and technology to Iran. On May 19, 2008. Ardebili pleaded guilty to multiple violations of the Arms Export Control Act, International Emergency Economic Powers Act, smuggling, conspiracy and money laundering. On December 14, 2009, Ardebili was sentenced to five years in prison. He completed his prison term in February 2012 and was deported to Iran on March 14, 2012.

A team from the Department of Justice, Homeland Security Investigations, and the Defense Criminal Investigative Service targeted Ardebili, starting in 2004, based on information provided by an informant. Ardebili sent thousands of requests for quotation for electronic and weapons components to a United States (U.S.) undercover storefront operating in the U.S. and in Europe. The U.S. undercover investigation culminated in face to face meetings between Ardebili and federal agents on October 1 and October 2, 2007 in Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia.

Ardebili was born in 1975, Ardebili grew up in Shiraz, Iran. He attended the University of Shiraz, where he studied electrical engineering. His father worked for a municipal tax authority and his mother was a homemaker. Ardebili worked for an Iranian government front company called Shiraz Electronic Industries as an acquisition agent before starting his own company, SBC Technology Group. His business objective was to acquire weapons components and technology for Iran from the west, and primarily the United States, through a front company in Dubai.