No sign of Iranian efforts to access enriched uranium stocks at Isfahan - ISIS

Prosecutors said Ostovari is the founder and CEO of a Tehran-based engineering company that supplied signaling and communications systems to the Iranian government, including on projects for the Islamic Republic of Iran Railways.

From at least May 2018 to July 2025, Ostovari and his co-conspirators “obtained and shipped sophisticated computer processors, railway signaling equipment, and other electronics and electronic components to Company A in Iran,” according to the indictment unsealed Friday. “Many of these items were controlled under federal regulations, and their export to Iran without a license was prohibited.”

He is charged with one count of conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and three counts of violating the IEEPA. Prosecutors say Ostovari acted in knowing violation of the Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations (ITSR), which, alongside the IEEPA, prohibit the export, sale, or supply — directly or indirectly — of certain US-origin goods to Iran without authorization from the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).

The Justice Department said Ostovari used two front companies in the United Arab Emirates — MH-SYS FZCO and Match Systech FZE — to carry out the scheme. He and others “intentionally concealed from electronics suppliers in the United States and elsewhere that the goods were destined for Iran,” falsely listing the UAE companies as end users.

Prosecutors allege that after becoming a lawful US permanent resident in May 2020, Ostovari continued the exports. “Ostovari knew of the US sanctions against Iran,” the indictment states, “mentioning them in emails to co-conspirators and directing one co-conspirator to provide false information to a federal export control officer.”

Neither Ostovari nor his companies applied for or received a license from OFAC to export the equipment, according to the Justice Department.

If convicted, Ostovari faces up to 20 years in prison for each count. Homeland Security Investigations and the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security are investigating the case.

Taeb was Ali Khamenei’s representative at Sarallah Headquarters, one of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ most critical domestic security commands—and a target of Israeli strikes during the recent conflict.

Ali Taeb’s brothers—Hossein Taeb and Mehdi Taeb—are two of the most influential operatives in the Islamic Republic establishment.

Hossein served as the long-time head of the IRGC Intelligence Organization (IRGC-IO), directly under the control of the Supreme Leader. Known for his ruthlessness, clerical ties, and proximity to Mojtaba Khamenei, Hossein was widely viewed as one of the most powerful figures in the Islamic Republic—until his ousting in 2022.

Ali Taeb’s role at Sarallah Headquarters placed him at the heart of Tehran’s security response to unrest and foreign threats. That position—and his familial ties to Hossein and Mehdi Taeb—make his sudden death significant.

According to Iranian state media, Ali Taeb was a veteran of the Iran-Iraq War and a deeply embedded cleric in the Islamic Republic’s ideological apparatus.

Though he originally studied mechanical engineering at Iran University of Science and Technology, he was reportedly persuaded by leading clerics such as Ayatollah Bahjat and Allameh Tabatabaei to enter the seminary. Early in his religious studies, he operated under an alias while evading the Shah’s intelligence services.

He later rose through the ranks of the IRGC, serving as deputy head of propaganda during the war, commander of the Ramadan Base, and head of the Motahari University in Qom.

He held multiple top roles including advisor to the Joint Chiefs of the IRGC, president of the Foundation for Martyrs and Veterans in Qom, and director of Al-Mustafa International University.

He was also a member of the board of trustees at the Noor Computer Research Center and ran the Ghadir Information Center.

"Under the wise leadership of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, we silenced Trump," Ali Larijani, the former Speaker of the Iranian Parliament and current advisor to Khamenei, said on Friday.

Larijani made his remarks during a memorial event for Saeid Izadi, a senior Revolutionary Guards commander killed in an Israeli airstrike in Qom on June 21.

Israel’s Defense Minister, Israel Katz, said on the same day that Izadi had coordinated financial and weapons transfers to Hamas ahead of the October 7, 2023, attacks.

The surprise 12-day campaign killed military commanders along with hundreds of civilians and pounded military and nuclear sites. Iranian missiles killed 27 Israelis.

Tehran officialdom swiftly declared the conflict a victory, in a narrative which jarred many war-weary Iranians.

Donald Trump said on June 27th he personally stopped a final, massive Israeli airstrike on Tehran and had previously alleged the United States was aware of Khamenei's wartime hiding place but had held off killing him.

Larijani condemned Israel’s assassination of Revolutionary Guard commanders inside Iran and said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu does not understand Iran's culture or people.

In response to comments by Benjamin Netanyahu promoting the joint US-Israel doctrine of "peace through strength," Larijani said: "You made so much noise claiming Hamas and Hezbollah have been eliminated, but Hamas is still alive and continues to carry out operations."

Iran's establishment is disoriented, humiliated and prone to fight back by asymmetric means now that its conventional military and regional allies have been so thoroughly degraded, said Doran, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute thinktank.

“They're like a boxer that's been punched in the nose, fallen down on his knee on the mat, but he's getting up … they'll start assassinating people,” Doran said.

In an interview with Eye for Iran, Doran said that while Iranian officials publicly declared victory after US and Israeli strikes on its nuclear facilities, behind closed doors the Islamic Republic is in crisis.

Its most powerful military sites were struck. Its deterrence was shattered. And now, it is left with few options but through covert attacks and regional destabilization.

Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, he added, still does not understand the full extent of Tehran's losses. “Nobody wants to be the bearer of bad news... everybody lies to their superior,” Doran said.

Doran said Tehran will turn to tactics it has long relied on including assassinations and reliance on proxy groups across the region.

Rights groups have for decades accused Tehran of killing dissidents abroad and four members of Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon were indicted by an international tribunal for their alleged role in killed a former prime minister, Rafic Hariri.

“They're going to look for those lines of fissure and see where they can cause trouble,” he said. “Assassination, intimidation ... that's the program always.”

After the 12-day war, Iran is again trying to fracture emerging regional cooperation, Doran said, adding that Tehran may target figures in Lebanon, Syria or elsewhere to advance its battered interests. Doran served as Senior Director for Near East and North African Affairs at the National Security Council and later as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense under President George W. Bush, where he helped shape US strategy on Iran and the broader Middle East.

“If the Lebanese start moving toward normalization with Israel, they'll assassinate somebody,” he said. “They’ll assassinate al-Sharaa in Damascus,” Doran added, referring to Syria's de facto leader, an opponent of Iran.

Despite recent rhetoric about diplomacy, Doran believes US President Donald Trump remains committed to preventing a nuclear-armed Iran. “He knows that the guys across the way from him are nasty people, nasty thugs,” he said.

As Tehran regroups, Doran said the United States must maintain its pressure.

“Don't remove the sanctions,” he warned. “Iran is weak ... but they still know those techniques. And I expect them to use them.”

You can watch the full episode of Eye for Iran on YouTube or listen on any major podcast platform like Spotify, Apple, Amazon Music and Castbox.

“The Chancellor persists in his support for the Israeli regime’s lawless behavior and atrocity crimes, even at the cost of violating the fundamental principles of the UN Charter and international law,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said Friday on X.

Chancellor Friedrich Merz, speaking during a parliamentary session on Wednesday, defended Israel’s attacks Iran, calling them legitimate self-defense.

“I have no doubt about the legitimacy and legality under international law of what Israel has done,” Merz said.

“Saying it was a preemptive strike against a potentially imminent nuclear attack from Iran is only one of several possible assumptions. One could also conclude that Israel has been attacked almost daily for years and has the right to defend itself militarily.”

During the conflict, Merz said Israel was doing the West's "dirty work" for it by degrading their shared enemy.

“Endorsing an injustice is no less than complicity in it,” Baqaei added.

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an interview on Thursday that Israel had rolled back Iran's nuclear program—but implied that the confrontation with the Islamic Republic is not yet over.

Netanyahu cited Merz in the interview as one of the only heads of state to publicly back Israel's campaign.

Iran and Israel are currently observing a ceasefire following the recent 12-day war.