COUNTERINTELLIGENCE AGENTS NAB ALABAMA MAN FOR IRAN SMUGGLING
November 29, 2022 ·Carl Prine
The arrest of an Alabama man, 69-year-old parts supplier Ray Hunt, for allegedly shipping American parts to Iran’s energy sector comes amid heightened tensions between the US and Tehran. This climate was punctuated during a July 16, 2022, protest there against the US. Photo by Atta Kenare/AFP via Getty Images.
For the past seven years, an Alabama man violated US sanctions by secretly shuttling control valves, nozzles, and tubing to Iran’s oil and gas industry, according to a federal grand jury indictment.
Unsealed Tuesday, Nov. 29, in Huntsville, the 15-count indictment charges Ray Hunt, 69, of Owens Cross Roads, with conspiring to unlawfully ship the banned parts, without federal export licenses, to a pair of unnamed Tehran companies, by peddling falsified forms.
Born in Iran and naturalized as a US citizen, Hunt — also known as Abdolrahman Hantoosh, Rahman Hantoosh, and Rahman Natoosh — operated Vega Tools LLC, an Alabama company that resold industrial parts for the US manufacturing and energy sector.
If convicted on all counts, Hunt faces up to 40 years behind bars and a $1 million fine. Federal agents arrested him Tuesday and he made his initial court appearance on the same day.
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