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Seyed Mojtaba Atarodi was charged "with violating US export laws...." He's a Sharif University of Technology Assistant Professor and microchip expert.
He authored or co-authored dozens of microchip technology scientific papers, none military related.
Prison records show he's held at the Federal Correctional Institution (FCI), Dublin, CA. near San Francisco. The prison's web site calls it "a low security facility housing female offenders" with "an adjacent administrative detention facility (for) adult males on holdover or pre-trial status...."
On January 26, San Francisco federal district court held Atarodi's bond hearing. Proceedings were closed except for attorneys and family members. Friends said he was detained on December 7 after arriving in Los Angeles by air.
Charges against him are sealed. Justice Department officials won't discuss them. An unnamed Sharif University spokesman said it involves buying ordinary US instruments available to anyone without a license. He spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid possible repercussions, adding:
"The fact of the matter is that he was just a professor, and he was trying to buy some equipment for his lab, and the equipment was very, very simple, ridiculously simple stuff that anybody can buy."
The arrest follows Washington's familiar pattern. Atarodi committed no crime. He's now victimized by the Obama's war on Iran.
Following a brief hearing, his family said he'll be released on bail, subject to electronic monitoring. In part, it's for medical reasons. In the past 14 months, he suffered two heart attacks, a stroke, and underwent two heart surgeries.
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