Los Gatos Man Charged With Buying Missiles For Iran

A Los Gatos man, with dual U.S.-Iranian citizenship, has been arrested in Estonia and extradited to New York on federal felony charges that he tried to buy illegal surface-to-air missiles and airline parts in violation of international trade sanctions and other laws for the government in Tehran.

Reza "Ray" Olangian, 53, was arrested Oct. 10, 2012 and he was extradited to the United States on March 26, 2013, according to federal prosecutors.

Federal prosecutors allege although Olangian was thwarted in his first attempt to help arm the Iranian military in violation of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, he tried again, this time being caught.

The allegations against Olangian are contained in an indictment that was unsealed on Friday in U.S. District Court in New York.

Federal prosecutors say in 2007, Olangian worked with Iranian officials to obtain approximately 100 SAMs for use by the Iranian government. Ultimately, that missile deal was unsuccessful, they noted.

Beginning in early 2012, Olangian worked to negotiate a separate missile deal, this time with a confidential source working with the DEA (the “CS”), who purported to be a weapons and aircraft broker, according to federal prosecutors.

From his base of operations in Tehran from approximately May 2012 through October 2012, Olangian arranged for the purchase of “IGLA-S” SAMs and various aircraft components, prosecutors allege.

During a covertly recorded meeting in May 2012, and in subsequent recorded conversations and e-mails with the CS, he described in detail his plans for procuring the SAMs and aircraft parts and then smuggling them over land into Iran, from Afghanistan or from another neighboring country, they said.

Olangian's 2012 negotiations included his participation in a videoconference with the CS, during which he remotely inspected a bona fide SAM, which the CS presented as a sample of the larger quantity of SAMs that he sought to purchase, according to federal prosecutors.

After inspecting the SAM and inquiring about its specifications, Olangian allegedly stated that he would want “at least 200 ... minimum 200” of such SAMs, federal prosecutors said.