A glamorous Iranian woman living a lavish life in Los Angeles was arrested for allegedly trafficking deadly drones and bombs for Tehran.
Shamim Mafi, 44, was taken into custody at Los Angeles International Airport on Saturday night and charged with allegedly brokering the sale of drones, bombs, bomb fuses, and millions of rounds of ammunition to be sold to Sudan, the US Attorney for the Central District of California said on Sunday.
Mafi left Iran in 2013 and became a permanent US resident in 2016 under the Obama administration, officials stated.
The Woodland Hills resident allegedly used Atlas International Business, an Oman-registered company, to broker weapons deals as recently as 2025, according to court records obtained by the New York Post.
One of her sales included a contract for more than $70 million for Mohajer-6 armed drones made by Iran’s Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics.
Those drones and 55,000 bomb fuses were transferred in deals with the Sudanese Ministry of Defense, which has been fighting in a violent civil war since 2023.
According to phone records included in court documents, Mafi had direct contact with Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) between December 2022 and June 2025.
During her time in America, Mafi has shared pictures of her living the high life, including an image of her posing in a $100,000 Mercedes-Benz.
She told investigators that she has never been hired by Iran to conduct any activities for Tehran on American soil.
Meanwhile, prosecutors said Mafi had no legal clearance to oversee the alleged dangerous weapon sales.
A previous investigation revealed that Tehran seized properties that Mafi inherited from her father in 2020, according to court records.
The Ministry of Intelligence then told her to open a business in the US to buy the properties back from the Iranian government, court records stated.
According to prosecutors, Iran also offered to pay for her start-up costs.
Mafi allegedly said that she is ‘more useful’ to the Iranian spies in Tehran than in the US, prosecutors said.
Her and her company have also been accused of intentionally going through channels in Turkey and the United Arab Emirates to conduct sales as way to avoid detection from the US, the outlet reported.
In addition to sharing glimpses of her swanky life, Mafi also posted images of her business dealings in Turkey.
She was tagged in a November 2023 post posing next to Feridun Öncel, the MISIAD General President.
In the post, Öncel said: ‘Our best friend from America Shamim Mafi Doing business talks. It was a beneficial discussion with our Sudanese businessman brother for the country’s economy.’
Before she was handcuffed, Mafi was scheduled to fly to Istanbul, the post reported.
She is accused of violating the Conspiracy to Violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
If convicted, she could be sentenced to a maximum of 20 years in federal prison.
She is due to appear at the US District Court in Los Angeles on Monday, prosecutors said.
The Daily Mail contacted the US Attorney for the Central District of California for comment.
Representatives for Mafi could not immediately be reached for comment.
