The U.S. has sentenced a 71-year-old business owner from Alabama to five years in federal prison for violating sanctions against Iran. Ray Hunt of Owens Cross Roads, Alabama, was sentenced for violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act by exporting goods to the Islamic Republic.
Hunt, also known as Abdolrahman Hantoosh, pleaded guilty in July 2024 to sending U.S.-origin industrial equipment to Iran in violation of the U.S. trade sanctions targeting the country’s economy.
The U.S. Justice Department claimed that he had worked with two Iranian companies located in Tehran, Iran, to send industrial equipment for use in Iran’s oil, gas, and petrochemical industries.
The sentencing comes after the U.S. imposed a fresh round of sanctions targeting some Iranian oil vessels, as well as certain legal or natural persons allegedly involved in selling and transporting Iranian petroleum.