Montenegro extradites an Iranian national accused of hacking American universities and companies to the United States

(CNN) - Police in Montenegro (Montenegro) and a person familiar with the case announced on Thursday that an Iranian national - accused of participating in a hacking scheme to steal data from more than 150 American universities and companies worth more than $3 billion - was extradited to the United States to face criminal charges.

Amir Barati, 40, is expected to face charges of wire fraud and computer fraud in the federal court for the Southern District of New York, where he and 16 other Iranian nationals were charged under an amended indictment in August.

Montenegro police arrested Parati - who also holds Turkish citizenship - in June at the request of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

Barati's extradition is positive news for US law enforcement agencies in their efforts to limit Iranian cyber capabilities amid the ongoing conflict between the United States and Iran. Accused Iranian hackers rarely appear before American courts.

Parati and his co-defendants are accused of participating in a years-long campaign - starting in 2013 - to steal data from universities and companies around the world, where they hacked about 8,000 email accounts belonging to university professors in the United States, Europe and other regions.

According to the indictment, the cost to US universities of “obtaining and accessing” the academic data and intellectual property targeted by the hackers was approximately $3.4 billion.

CNN was unable to reach a lawyer representing Parati.

The list of companies that allegedly fell victim to these attacks included HBO, a subsidiary of Warner Brothers Discovery, the parent company of CNN.

US court documents indicate that Parati helped track the path of hacking operations that targeted universities, and also contributed to preparing “hit lists” for the private sector.

According to the Department of Justice, the list of private American companies that were hacked included 11 technology companies and two defense contractors.

Other members of the conspiracy network - other than Parati - also allegedly hacked into the systems of the Department of Labor, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and the United Nations.

Prosecutors stated that many of these hacking operations were carried out on behalf of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.

On Thursday, a spokesman for the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York declined to comment on the issue of Parati's extradition.

Iran's significant cyber capabilities provided Tehran with a way to threaten critical US infrastructure during the seven-month war with the United States and Israel.

Throughout that period, Iran has been fingered as a prime suspect in cyberattacks that targeted U.S. water systems, tank level readers at gas stations, a major medical device manufacturer, and the email account of FBI Director Kash Patel.