Justice Department charges Iranian national with illegally exporting lab equipment

An Iranian national living in Canada was hit with multiple charges from the U.S. Department of Justice this week related to allegations that he has been illegally exported lab equipment back to his home country. 

A grand jury indicted Reza Sarhangpour Kafrani this week on "one count of conspiracy, two counts of violations of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), one count of causing a failure to submit export information and six counts of money laundering," the Justice Department said in a press release on Friday. 

The indictment alleges that Kafrani and a co-conspirator used a front company in Montreal to buy lab equipment and ship it to Iran via the U.S., Canada and the United Arab Emirates. 

The lab materials in question "are controlled for nuclear nonproliferation reasons and therefore require a license to be exported from the United States to either Iran or the UAE," the Justice Department said. 

Kafrani could face decades in prison if convicted.