Mozaffar Khazaee 'tried to ship F-35 documents to Iran'

[Blue_Tires]

Source: bbc.co.uk

US authorities have arrested an Iranian-American engineer accused of attempting to ship stolen documentation on a high-tech military plane to Iran.

Federal prosecutors have charged Mozaffar Khazaee, 59, with trying to smuggle thousands of pages of F-35 Joint Strike Fighter documents.

Mr Khazaee stole the documents from defence contractors that employed him as an engineer, prosecutors said.

Mr Khazaee is an ex-employee of military contractor Pratt & Whitney, US media have reported, and in that capacity was responsible for carrying out strength tests on military engine parts.

He was made redundant from a defence contractor in August, prosecutors said.

He is being held by the US Marshals Service and will be transported to Connecticut for further court proceedings, Thomas Carson, a spokesman for the Connecticut US Attorney's office, told the BBC.

Mr Khazaee was arrested on 9 January at the airport in Newark, New Jersey, on his way to Iran, Deidre Daly, US attorney for Connecticut, said in a statement.


Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-25748242

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LOL at stealing documents for the "Edsel" of military aviation...

[Submariner]

1. Life without parole ought to get the message out

that military espionage is a big NO-NO, even if the F35 is a flying turd.

[TwilightGardener]

2. Did he have a security clearance, and how does an Iranian citizen get to work

at a fairly high level for a US defense contractor anyway? Do we just trust everybody now, or what?

[1StrongBlackMan]

6. Because he's also ...

a US Citizen.

Mr Khazaee, a naturalised US citizen who is also an Iranian citizen, has been charged with transporting, transmitting and transferring in interstate or foreign commerce goods obtained by theft, conversion, or fraud.

[TwilightGardener]

7. Never gave up his Iranian citizenship. If he had a security clearance, how on

earth did he get one? Why not hire a North Korean next? How about a known member of the Taliban? I mean, step back and look at the big picture, at how obviously wrong and ridiculous this situation is.

[Ash_F]

9. It's cool that racism is back in vogue at DU

How about instead we scuttle that expensive boondoggle that is the F-35 program?

We don't need top of the line killing machines to kill a bunch of farmers/herders halfway across the globe.

Problem solved.

You are welcome.

[bananas]

13. It's sad that some DUers don't know the difference between countries and races.

Iran and North Korea aren't races, they're countries.
The Taliban isn't a race, it's a political organization.

[TwilightGardener]

15. It's also sad that some DUers don't read the article to discover that

the man in question is currently an Iranian CITIZEN who naturalized to the US and claims dual citizenship. He's not merely an American of Iranian descent. And I'm pretty clear on the Taliban not being a nationality or race, thanks.

[TwilightGardener]

14. Oh fer god's sake. Yeah, you got me, I'm against our nation's enemies being able

to infiltrate our defense industry and waltz away with our technology. RACIST!!!

[Ash_F]

19. What you are advocating is both racist and very illegal.

You are saying that a naturalized citizen should not be able to get a job with a defense contractor? YES that is racist.

Maybe you should start a PAC or something to advocate changing the law. Or write some angry letters to the man. You would get more support at freerepublic though.

[TwilightGardener]

22. No, I'm saying a CURRENT citizen of a country that has had hostile relations

with the US for over 30 years shouldn't be allowed to get a job here as a defense contractor. Because that person may still have a primary loyalty to that other country, and indeed might be trying to gain access to our technology in order to transfer it to his home country. Oops, wait, that's exactly what happened here.

[Ash_F]

23. Plenty of people have dual citizenship

You don't know what you are talking about.

[bananas]

16. Wow - you think North and South Korea are different "races"?

We exchange a lot of technology with South Korea because they're a political ally.
We don't exchange technology with North Korea because it's a political enemy.
The only way you could think it's "racism" is if you think they're two different races.

[Ash_F]

20. You are not reading for comprehension. Start over. /nt

[malthaussen]

3. Dang, he must really hate Iran.

Just what they need, to try to make that turkey fly.

-- Mal

[Blue_Tires]

4. Maybe the Iranian gov't was feeling depressed and needed some comic relief...

[awoke_in_2003]

10. If he really hated Iran...

he would send plans for the V22 Osprey

[cstanleytech]

12. No, true hate would be sending them all of the republicans in congress. nt

[awoke_in_2003]

17. Touché. nt

[SkatmanRoth]

5. This is obviously a set-up

The United States wants to trick Iran into copying the plane. It would be the end of a modern air force for Iran.

[yurbud]

8. how do you say "Wen Ho Lee" in Farsi?

[awoke_in_2003]

11. Uh, Wen Ho Lee...

[ConcernedCanuk]

18. ??? "thousands of pages" ???

.
.
.

no flash drive, memory stick, CDs etcetera?

How accessible were these documents? Were they stolen and not missed? Were they copied? (that's a lot of copying to go unnoticed)

OH

and if I remember correctly,

was not the whole F-35 fleet grounded recently?

and

Sort of silly for Iran to try a stunt like this during the hoopla over their alleged nuclear activities and congress's hard-on for more sanctions . . .

Makes one ponder



CC

[freshwest]

21. 'Stole the documents from defence contractors.' Privatization strikes again. Expect a lot more. n/t