Iranian man who purchased sonar parts for the US military through China was sentenced to 18 months in prison for violating sanctions

Schematic diagram of the U.S. Navy's AN/AQS-20C towed sonar system, which can be towed by surface ships to perform underwater detection missions. The AN/AQS-20C is a minehunting sonar system used by the U.S. Navy. This picture is not the military sonar part that was smuggled in this case. (Picture taken from Raytheon official website)

The U.S. Department of Justice announced on the 25th that a 44-year-old Iranian man was sentenced to 18 months in prison by the Federal District Court in Seattle for violating U.S. sanctions on Iran by purchasing U.S. military sonar system parts through a Chinese company and planning to transport them to Iran through China. The US pointed out that this case involved parts for three military sonar systems. The goods were originally obtained from the United States and then sent to Iran via China.

The picture shows that in April 2026, Iranian man Reza Dindar was extradited to the United States. (Picture taken from the official website of the U.S. Department of Justice)

The U.S. Department of Justice stated that the defendant Reza. Reza Dindar, also known as Renda Dindar, ran New Port Sourcing Solutions in Xi'an, China, from 2010 to 2014. Between 2011 and 2012, he and his accomplices purchased parts for three military sonar systems from a company in Western Washington State. They claimed that the goods would be used by Chinese companies, but the actual plan was to ship them to China first and then transfer them to Iran to circumvent U.S. export controls.

The relevant actions involve U.S. sanctions against Iran. The Department of Justice pointed out that the relevant executive orders prohibit the direct or indirect export, re-export, sale or provision of goods, technology and services to Iran without authorization, and also prohibit the provision of related items through third countries knowing that the goods will eventually be transshipped or re-exported to Iran.

Arrested more than 10 years later and extradited to the United States via Panama

Tyndall was indicted by a U.S. grand jury as early as August 2014. After the United States requested Panama's assistance, he was arrested there in July 2025 and extradited to the United States in April 2026. In June this year, he pleaded guilty in Seattle federal court to two counts of exporting goods to embargoed countries and two counts of smuggling goods from the United States.

When sentencing, Judge Ricardo S. Martinez of the Federal District Court in Seattle pointed out that the crime occurred more than 10 years ago and Tyndall had already served a considerable amount of time in a Panamanian prison. In addition to 18 months in prison, the court sentenced him to a fine of US$10,000 and three years of supervised release after serving his sentence.

This case was jointly investigated by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) Export Enforcement Office and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). The U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs worked with the Panamanian government to assist in the arrest and extradition procedures.