Iran Wants U.S. Nuclear Engineer Released

The Iranian government is making its demands for the immediate release of a former Palo Verde Nuclear Power station engineer, Mohammad Alavi.^[1] Alavi is an Iranian native who lived in the United States as a naturalized citizen for 30 years; the former nuclear engineer was arrested for taking Palo Verde software to Iran.^[2]

Iran's foreign minister Wednesday sent a letter to U.S. officials asking for details about the arrest of Alavi, who is being held without bail at a federal detention facility in Arizona.^[3] The State Department said Wednesday that the office had not had an opportunity to research the letter that called for Alavi's release and asked that the United States provide full details of the case against him.^[4]

Alavi is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Phoenix and has been charged with one count of violating the trade embargo with Iran, which carries a maximum penalty of 24 months in prison.^[5]In August, Alavi quit Palo Verde and moved to Tehran. He was arrested April 8 as he stepped off a plane in Los Angeles along with his wife. ^[6] Authorities allege that weeks before he left the U.S., he bought a laptop and downloaded training software containing diagrams and details of the Palo Verde nuclear facility; he then took the computer and software to Iran.^[7]

According to Arizona Public Service Co., which operates Palo Verde, the software was not classified and posed no threat to the security of the nuclear facility.^[8] Arizona Public Service Co. said the software can't be used to access plant workings or operations.^[9] Arizona Public Service Co. did not know that Alavi had left the country with the information until the software manufacturer reported that attempts had been made to access the Palo Verde training system from Tehran.^[10]

Violation of sanctions against Iran is a violation of Executive Orders 12959, and 13059, which prohibit trading or dealing with Iran. Violating these executive orders of the president is made criminal by the International Economic Emergency Powers Act (IEEPA),^[11]we have previously discussed IEEPA in this blog, here.

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^[1] AP Newswire, Iran wants former Palo Verde engineer released from custody, Associated Press Newswire, May 24, 2007, available at LEXIS, News Library, Wire News Services File.
^[2] Id.
^[3] Id.
^[4] Id.
^[5] Id.
^[6] Id.
^[7] Id.
^[8] Id.
^[9] Id.
^[10] Id.
^[11] 50 U.S.C. §§1702, 1705 (2007).