Federal prosecutors arrested Shamim Mafi, 44, at Los Angeles International Airport on the night of April 18 on charges she brokered arms sales from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to the Sudanese military. Mafi, an Iranian national and lawful permanent U.S. resident since 2016, resides in Woodland Hills, California.
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli announced the arrest on X, stating Mafi is charged with violating 50 U.S.C. § 1705, the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), which bars unauthorized transactions with sanctioned entities. The charges allege she brokered “the sale of drones, bombs, bomb fuses, and millions of rounds of ammunition manufactured by Iran and sold to Sudan,” Essayli said.
Last night, Shamim Mafi, 44, of Woodland Hills, was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport for trafficking arms on behalf of the government of Iran. She is charged with a violation of 50 U.S.C. § 1705 for brokering the sale of drones, bombs, bomb fuses, and millions of… pic.twitter.com/l39Gf1WVed
— F.A. United States Attorney Bill Essayli (@USAttyEssayli) April 19, 2026
A criminal complaint dated March 12, 2026 alleges Mafi and an unnamed co-conspirator ran Atlas International Business, an Oman-based shell company that received more than $7 million in payments in 2025.
BREAKING: From luxury life in California to federal court Iranian woman Shamim Mafi busted at LAX for allegedly brokering deadly Iranian drones, bombs, fuses, and millions of rounds of ammo straight to Sudan’s military… while funneling tens of millions back to Tehran.
The… pic.twitter.com/au7W28V8Iz— EuroPost Agency (@EuroPostAgency) April 20, 2026
Separately, the complaint alleges the pair brokered the sale of 55,000 bomb fuses to Sudan’s Ministry of Defense. “In connection with the transaction, Mafi submitted a letter of intent to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (‘IRGC’) to purchase the bomb fuses for Sudan,” the complaint states.
The Mafi case connects to a previously documented IRGC logistics channel. Iran International reported in April 2025 that an IRGC-operated Boeing 747 with registration EP-FAB, flown by Fars Air Qeshm, an IRGC-owned cargo operator, departed Tehran and landed in Port Sudan on March 17, 2025, delivering drones to the Sudanese army.
The Mafi prosecution is the first U.S. criminal case to surface an alleged commercial intermediary tied to that supply line.
Mafi was scheduled to make her initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles on April 20. If convicted, she faces up to 20 years in federal prison.
