Tehran summons British ambassador over extradition of Iranian citizen to US

Britain’s Ambassador to Tehran Simon Shercliff was called to the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs after London extradited an Iranian citizen to the US on suspicion of circumventing sanctions on Iran.

Following the British government’s move to extradite the Iranian national to the US on charges of skirting sanctions, Iran’s Foreign Ministry summoned the UK ambassador on Wednesday.

The director general of the Consular Affairs of the Foreign Ministry filed Iran’s strong protest at the illegal detention and extradition of the Iranian national to the US, the ministry’s website reported.

Upon gaining information about the Iranian citizen’s detention, the Foreign Ministry pushed for his release through diplomatic channels in Tehran and London, as efforts to secure his release are in progress.

A Tuesday statement by the US Department of Justice announced that Saeid Haji Agha Mousaei, 53, had made his initial appearance in a Chicago federal court after being extradited from Britain on US export control charges, Press TV reported.

Haji Agha Mousaei is accused of participating in a “years-long conspiracy to evade US export restrictions and transship advanced US electronic testing technology to Iran using third-party countries.”

The US government has arrested several Iranians on similar allegations in recent years.

In 2021, US prosecutors charged 10 Iranian nationals in connection with a scheme to disguise $300 million in transactions to evade US sanctions.