The suspect, identified as Shamim Mafi, is accused of brokering deals involving drones, bombs, bomb fuses and large quantities of ammunition between Iranian entities and the Sudanese Armed Forces, according to statements by U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli.

Mafi, an Iranian national who became a lawful permanent resident of the United States in 2016, was taken into custody on Saturday night and is scheduled to appear in federal court in Los Angeles on Monday. Authorities said it was not immediately clear whether she had secured legal representation.

A criminal complaint filed on March 12 alleges that Mafi and an unnamed associate operated a company based in Oman, Atlas International Business, which prosecutors say was used to channel arms transactions. The firm reportedly received more than $7 million in payments in 2025 linked to these activities.

Court documents also allege that Mafi helped arrange the sale of 55,000 bomb fuses to Sudan’s Ministry of Defense and submitted a letter of intent to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to procure the materials.If convicted, Mafi could face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

The case comes amid Sudan’s protracted civil war, now in its fourth year, which has triggered a severe humanitarian crisis marked by widespread displacement and acute shortages of food and basic supplies.

The bombardment signals the risks of a deepening rift between two powerful regional militaries over Syria, where Islamist rebels have installed a new government after toppling former leader Bashar al-Assad in December.

The Israeli strikes on the three sites Turkey was assessing, including a heavy barrage on Wednesday night, came despite Ankara’s efforts to reassure Washington that a deeper military presence in Syria was not intended to threaten Israel.

The Islamists replacing Assad have alarmed Israel, which is wary of an Islamist presence on its border and has lobbied the United States to curb Turkey’s growing influence in the country.

Ankara, a longtime backer of opposition to Assad, is positioning to play a major role in the remade Syria, including with a possible joint defence pact that could see new Turkish bases in central Syria and use of Syria’s airspace.

In preparation, Turkish military teams in recent weeks visited the T4 and Palmyra air bases in Syria’s Homs province and the main airport in Hama province, according to a regional intelligence official, two Syrian military sources and another Syrian source familiar with the matter.

The sources spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the visits, which have not been previously reported.

Turkish teams evaluated the state of the runways, hangars and other infrastructure at the bases, the regional intelligence official said.

Another planned visit to T4 and Palmyra on March 25 was cancelled after Israel struck both bases just hours beforehand, according to the regional intelligence official and the two Syrian military sources.

Strikes at T4 “destroyed the runway, tower, hangars and the planes that were grounded. It was a tough message that Israel won’t accept the expanded Turkish presence,” said the intelligence official, who reviewed photographs of the damage.

“T4 is totally unusable now,” said a fourth Syrian source, who is close to Turkey.

When asked about the visits, a Turkish defence ministry official said: “Reports and posts regarding developments in Syria – whether real or alleged – that do not originate from official authorities should not be taken into consideration, as they lack credibility and may be misleading.”

A spokesperson for Syria’s defence ministry declined to comment.

Turkey’s foreign ministry on Thursday called Israel “the greatest threat to regional security”. On Friday, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told Reuters Turkey wanted no confrontation with Israel in Syria.

Heavy Strikes

In the four months since Assad was toppled, Israel has seized ground in southwest Syria, made overtures to the Druze minority, and struck much of the Syrian military’s heavy weapons and equipment. Wednesday’s strikes were some of the most intense yet.

Syria’s foreign ministry said Israel struck five separate areas within a 30-minute window, resulting in the near-total destruction of the Hama base and wounding dozens of civilians and soldiers.

Israel said it hit the T4 air base and other military capabilities at air bases in Hama and Homs provinces, as well as military infrastructure in the Damascus area.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz called the air strikes a warning that “we will not allow the security of the State of Israel to be harmed”. Foreign Minister Gideon Saar accused Ankara of seeking a “Turkish protectorate” in Syria.

Noa Lazimi, a specialist in Middle East politics at Bar-Ilan University, said Israel was concerned that Turkey could establish Russian anti-aircraft systems and drones at T4.

“The base would enable Turkey to establish air superiority in this area, and this poses a serious concern for Israel because it undermines its operational freedom in the region,” she said.

Ideological Collision Course

Turkey has tried to reassure the U.S. that it wants to work towards a stable Syria.

Foreign Minister Fidan told U.S. officials in Washington last month that Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa would not pose a threat to neighbours, according to a senior regional diplomat close to Turkey and a source in Washington briefed on the meetings.

Fidan and other Turkish officials had earlier told Sharaa that Ankara was carefully calibrating its moves towards a defence pact so as not to irk Washington, one of the Syrian military sources said.

“Turkey, not Israel, would pay the highest price among regional states were there to be failure or destabilization in Syria, including with refugees and security,” an official in Turkey’s ruling AK Party told Reuters.

Soner Cagaptay, director of the Turkish Research Program at the Washington Institute think tank, said Turkey and Israel were on an “ideological collision course” but could avoid military escalation through mediation with Washington.

According to Defense News, Saudi Arabia’s Advanced Communications and Electronics Systems (ACES) signed an agreement with China Electronics Technology Group Corp (CETC). The joint venture which is called as ‘Aerial Solutions’ will establish a research and development center inside the Kingdom with a sophisticated team to manufacture different types of UAV systems, including communications, flight-control, camera, radar and wireless-detection systems.

Aerial Solutions will also develop electric-powered vertical-takeoff-and-landing drones, anti-drone solutions, analytics, helicopter products and radar systems.

This joint venture will also focus on protecting infrastructure and localizing the technological innovation through scientific research, manufacturing and training the Saudi engineers. According to ACES, this move is in line with Vision 2030, to prioritize the Saudi workforce.

Back in 2017, Saudi Arabia ordered Chinese-made Wing Loong II drones, which according to Chinese media Xinhua was the country’s largest-ever arms export.

CETC participated in the World Defense Show 2022 along with other Chinese firms like China North Industries Group Corp. Ltd. (NORINCO), China National Aero-Technology Import and Export Corp. (CATIC), Star Vision, China Aerospace Long March International Trading Co. (ALIT).

Doha – Qatar has been operating a weapons funding network from Europe to Hezbollah using gold shipments traded across Africa, according to a latest report by an Austrian-based think-tank group Mena-Watch.

Qatari officials coordinated the payments and offered protection for Doha-based Hezbollah financiers, according to the report released by Mena-Watch last Tuesday.

“General Dahlan al-Hamad used gold from Uganda to fund this arms trade,” Mena-Watch’s report cited a dossier from a former Western intelligence official Jason G. who spent more than 16 years investigating terror in the Middle East.

General Dahlan al-Hamad is currently the president of the Asian Athletics Association as well as the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) vice-president and the president of Qatar Athletics.

The western intelligence official Jason G., was directly interviewed by Mena-Watch, who has been leaking evidence that the Qatari regime was aware of Qatari groups funding Hezbollah — which is a designated terrorist organization by the countries like US and Germany.

Austria’s Die Presse magazine quoted Jason G. earlier this month that, Qatar has paid over half a billion dollars for the Houthi drone attacks against Saudi Arabia, and it has also financed Hezbollah and Muslim Brotherhood terror groups.

“With the knowledge of influential government officials, donations were generated by charities in Doha,” added Jason G.

The intelligence source highlighted the Qatari charity organizations like Qatar Charity, Sheikh Eid Charity and other Doha-based charity groups, who have funneled $500 million of funds to Hezbollah in 2020 alone.

Featured Image Credits: CrystalEyes.com

A report by an intelligence analyst known as Jason G has stated how Qatar financed attacks on its regional rivals, including Saudi Arabia. He claimed that he was fully determined to raise the alarm over the potential threats including a failed drone strike on Saudi Arabia’s Abha airport on Sunday.

“I was actively working the last few weeks to determine the risk/threats of drone strikes, and the best payoff is when casualties are avoided,” he told UAE’s The National newspaper. “You have to take every threat seriously and hope they don’t materialise. When one is thwarted, it’s the best outcome.”

For the past few years, Iran has backed the Houthi militias of Yemen with sophisticated drones and a ballistic missible programme to carry out attacks against Saudi Arabia. The attacks were directed towards civilian homes, commercial airports, vital infrastructure, military stations, and even the Muslim holy city of Mecca.

Though Qatar has always denied supporting the Houthi militias in Yemen, Austria’s Die Presse magazine has reviewed an extensive dossier documenting its involvement.

A former member of the secret service agency, Jason G, who now works as a private security analyst, said that Qatar financed an informant in the Saudi Arabia’s government to provide intelligence inputs to the Houthi leaders.

The report also warned that Saudi Arabia’s sister country Bahrain will also come under similar types of attacks because of its integral role on “international shipping routes”.

The report further added that Qatar has been funding Hezbollah in Lebanon and various Muslim Brotherhood groups around the region.

Jason G has played an active role in giving reports on Qatar’s nefarious activities, and last month he said that a senior royal approved delivery of military equipment to Hezbollah that will endanger the 10,000 US troops hosted by Doha.

Another shocking report published in August, which was verified by the German intelligence stated that Qatar’s ambassador to Belgium and NATO, Abdulrahman bin Mohammed Al-Khulaifi, tried to cover up the royal family’s involvement in financing Hezbollah by bribing Jason G with €750,000 (Dh3.2 million).

September 4, is regarded as the day of “Betrayal” on which Qatar sent the coordinates of the location of a number of Arab coalition soldiers to the Houthi militias in the most heinous treachery incident in modern history, which resulted in the deaths of over 45 Emirati soldiers, 10 Saudi soldiers, and 5 Bahraini soldiers.