Two things aim to cut off China and Iran from American technology

The US government has announced charges in two separate cases on Wednesday aimed at enforcing laws blocking the transfer of crucial technologies, as part of a broader campaign to hamper military efforts and weapons production in rival countries.

One of the complaints was against a Chinese-born American citizen who has been arrested and accused of stealing trade secrets from a private company. According to court documents, the technology “would be dangerous to U.S. national security if acquired by international actors.”

A complaint from the Ministry of Justice filed in U.S. District Court in California said the stolen material would help develop technology that would allow space-based systems to track ballistic and hypersonic missiles. US officials said technology related to hypersonic missiles and missile tracking were among the Chinese military's top priorities.

In the other complaintThe US government accused two Iranian men of illegally purchasing American goods and technology for Iran's aerospace industry. According to court documents, the technology included firefighting equipment and flame detectors.

The charges are the latest in a series of legal actions aimed at cutting off Iran, Russia and China from American technology. A year ago, the Departments of Justice and Commerce formed the Disruptive Technology Strike Force to enforce export control laws and disrupt Iran's production of weapons intended for Russia and Iranian proxy groups. It was also intended to slow China's efforts to develop advanced military technology.

Strike force officials are meeting with Ukrainian representatives in Phoenix this week to discuss efforts to stem the flow of American technology and U.S.-designed components to Russia, Iran and China.

“Our mission is to keep our nation's most sensitive technology out of the world's most dangerous hands,” said Matthew S. Axelrod, assistant secretary for export enforcement at the Department of Commerce. “Nation-state actors are seeking to acquire advanced American technology so that they can modernize their militaries to such an extent that they will surpass ours and change the balance of power in the world. That is the stake.”

U.S. export controls aimed at Beijing have sought to prevent the government and Chinese companies from acquiring advanced chips that could be used to develop new military capabilities. However, Iran is trying to acquire less advanced technology and chips, the export of which to many other countries is not blocked.

Iran uses those chips to build drones that it supplies to Russia for its war in Ukraine and to Hamas and Houthi rebels, who have used them to attack ships in the Red Sea.

“Iran's malign activities are destabilizing the region and supporting other malign actors like Russia,” said Matthew G. Olsen, assistant attorney general of the Justice Department's National Security Division.

When mr. Olsen traveled to Kiev in November, Ukrainian officials presented him with evidence that American technology was used in the Iranian-made drones that attacked Ukraine. He said the visit had expanded intelligence sharing between the countries to strengthen the U.S. legal investigation.

U.S. officials said it was difficult to assess the direct effect of the export controls. For example, Russian missile production was initially slowed by export restrictions. But as Moscow refocused its economy on wartime production, missile production levels returned to and then surpassed pre-war levels.

Iranian drone production has fluctuated, possibly due to US pressure on the supply chain. And US officials say at the very least they make it much more expensive and difficult for Iran to supply both its proxy forces and Russia.

“When we enforce sanctions and export control laws, we want to impose costs on the bad actors, including Russian and Iranian actors,” Mr. Olsen said. “We want to charge them, expose them publicly and, if possible, arrest them.”

The enforcement actions also have ripple effects, Mr. Olsen said. Larger companies see how Iran, Russia or China are trying to circumvent the rules and are undertaking stronger compliance efforts to ensure they are not used in any attempt to smuggle the chips.

“Companies are taking notice when there is criminal enforcement and are implementing stricter compliance regimes,” he said.

In the China case unveiled Wednesday, a 57-year-old man, Chenguang Gong, was charged with theft of trade secrets. Prosecutors accused Mr. Gong last year of stealing files from a technology company that was not identified. The government's complaint does not say whether the technology — to identify missile launches and track hard-to-detect objects from space — was sent to China.

But Mr. Gong did not have the software to view the files he took from the company, prosecutors wrote in their complaint. Some documents were labeled proprietary, while others were labeled “export controlled.”

Mr. Gong, who had worked for defense contractors and had expertise in developing computer circuits, had previously sought funding from the Chinese government and contacted officials through its various “talent programs.” Beijing uses the programs to identify people who can help develop its economy and military capabilities.

The Iran case was not directly related to the country's drone production, but was related to the aerospace industry.

Abolfazi Bazzazi, 79, and his son, Mohammad Resa Bazzazi, 43, were accused of masterminding an elaborate scheme to circumvent export laws to send space equipment to Iran and ship the technology to Europe to conceal its final destination.