The U.S. government on Wednesday announced charges in two separate cases aimed at enforcing laws that block the transfer of critical technology as part of a broader operation to disrupt military efforts and weapons production in hostile countries. .
One of the complaints was against a Chinese-born American who had been arrested and charged with stealing trade secrets from a private company. The technology “would pose a danger to the national security of the United States if acquired by international parties,” according to court documents.
The Department of Justice’s complaint filed in U.S. District Court in California said the stolen materials could help develop technology that would allow space-based systems to track ballistic and hypersonic missiles. U.S. officials said hypersonic missiles and technology related to missile tracking are among the Chinese military’s top priorities.
In a separate complaint, the U.S. government accused two Iranian men of trying to illegally source U.S. products and technology for Iran’s aerospace industry. The technology included fire suppression equipment and flame detectors, according to court documents.
The charges are the latest in a series of lawsuits aimed at cutting Iran, Russia and China off from American technology. A year ago, the Department of Justice and Commerce formed the Destructive Technology Strike Force to enforce export control laws and disrupt the production of weapons in Iran for Russian and Iranian proxies. It was also intended to slow China’s efforts to develop advanced military technology.
Strike Force officials will meet with Ukrainian representatives in Phoenix this week to discuss efforts to stop the flow of U.S. technology and U.S.-designed parts to Russia, Iran and China.
“Our mission is to keep our nation’s most sensitive technology out of the world’s most dangerous hands,” said Matthew S. Axelrod, Commerce Department’s assistant secretary for export enforcement. “Nation-state actors are seeking to acquire advanced American technology so they can leapfrog our military, modernize their militaries, and change the balance of power in the world. That’s the bet.”
U.S. export controls aimed at the Chinese government seek to prevent the Chinese government and Chinese companies from obtaining advanced chips that can be used to develop new military capabilities. However, although Iran is trying to acquire less sophisticated technology and chips, exports to many other countries are not prevented.
Iran uses these chips to build drones and supply them to Russia, Hamas and Houthi rebels for the war in Ukraine, and to attack ships in the Red Sea.
Matthew G. Olsen, Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s National Security Division, said, “Iran’s malign activities are both destabilizing in the region and threatening other malign actors such as Russia.” We are supporting it.”
When Olsen visited Kiev in November, Ukrainian authorities presented him with evidence of American technology being used in the Iranian drones that attacked Ukraine. He said the visit expanded intelligence sharing between the two countries and strengthened U.S. legal investigations.
U.S. officials said it was difficult to determine the direct impact of export restrictions. For example, Russian missile production was initially slowed by export controls. However, as Moscow refocused its economy on wartime manufacturing, missile production levels returned to and then exceeded prewar capabilities.
Iran’s drone production has fluctuated, likely due to pressure on the US supply chain. And American officials say it at least makes it much more expensive and difficult for Iran to resupply both its proxy forces and Russia.
“When we enforce sanctions and export control laws, we want to impose costs on bad actors, including Russia and Iran,” Olsen said. “We want to prosecute them, release them in public and arrest them if possible.”
Olsen said enforcement actions also have ramifications. Big companies understand how Iran, Russia and China are trying to circumvent the rules and are ramping up compliance efforts to avoid being used to smuggle chips.
“Companies will take notice when there is a criminal crackdown and put stronger compliance regimes in place,” he said.
In a Chinese case unsealed on Wednesday, a 57-year-old man, Chenguan Gong, is charged with theft of trade secrets. Prosecutors accused Gong of stealing files from an unidentified technology company last year. The government’s complaint does not say whether technology to identify missile launches and track objects difficult to detect from space was sent to China.
However, Gong did not have the software to view the files he took from the company, prosecutors said in the complaint. Some documents had unique labels on them, while others had export control labels on them.
Gong, who worked for a defense contractor and had expertise in developing computer circuits, had previously sought funding from the Chinese government and had been in contact with officials through the country’s various “talent programs.” The Chinese government uses the program to identify talent who can contribute to the development of its economy and military capabilities.
Although the incident in Iran was not directly related to the country’s drone production, it was linked to the country’s aerospace industry.
Abolfazi Bazazi, 79, and his son Mohammad Resa Bazazi, 43, hatched a complex scheme to circumvent export laws to send aerospace equipment to Iran, using technology to hide its final destination. He was accused of transporting the goods to Europe.