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 Ahmad Sheikhzadeh, 60, faces seven charges including conspiracy to
evade U.S. sanctions against Iran, money laundering, and helping
arrange false tax returns, the May 18 indictment said.
Federal prosecutors unveiled the charges a few hours after a hearing
in federal court in Brooklyn, New York, where U.S. District Judge
Pamela Chen set a $3 million bond for the defendant.
Sheikhzadeh was arrested nearly three weeks ago, court records show,
and had pleaded not guilty at a prior hearing.
"We will vigorously fight these charges," his lawyer Steve Zissou
said outside of court. The defendant has lived in the United States
since he was 18, Zissou added.
 The case came just two months after Iran emerged from years of
economic isolation when world powers led by the United States and
the European Union lifted crippling sanctions against the country,
in return for curbs on Tehran's nuclear ambitions.
According to the indictment, Sheikhzadeh was paid a regular cash
salary by the Iran mission, often through a colleague employed
there, and deposited it into a Citibank checking account.
But the indictment said he also used that account for side
transactions with two U.S.-based co-conspirators who wished to
invest in Iran, and at their request directed an Iran-based
co-conspirator to funnel money to people in that country.
The defendant "did not obtain any license from the (U.S.) Department
of Treasury" authorizing these and other activities, the indictment
said.
At Wednesday's hearing, Chen restricted Sheikhzadeh from going to
the Iranian mission and limited his contact with people there, after
a prosecutor expressed concern about whether the defendant might
seek sanctuary or become a flight risk.
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"He does work for a hostile government," and the mission might be a
"potential safe haven for him," Assistant U.S. Attorney Tali
Farhadian told the judge.
Farhadian also said Sheikhzadeh had family in Iran who has
"substantial assets."
Iran and the United States have no diplomatic relations.
The bond will be secured by property belonging to Sheikhzadeh's
brother, who worked at New York University. About $800,000 of
Sheikhzadeh's assets have also been frozen, Farhadian said.
The Iranian mission had no immediate comment. Neither it nor
Citibank was named as a defendant in the indictment.
(Reporting by Nate Raymond; Additional reporting by Jonathan Stempel
in New York and Michelle Nichols at the United Nations; Editing by
Sandra Maler, Bernard Orr)
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