Iranian smuggler is living in £500K flat after being granted UK asylum

An Iranian smuggler is living in a £500,000 luxury flat after being granted asylum in Britain despite being jailed in America for trying to buy aircraft parts for Tehran. 

Mohammad Hakim-Hashemi had agreed to turn informant after his arrest – and claimed he would face 'persecution' if forced to return to the Middle East.

The 67-year-old now lives with his wife in a £500,000 flat in Ascot, Berkshire, that was purchased last September, and was seen getting into a £44,000 Mercedes. 

Hashemi had been resident in Britain under a spousal visa when he was arrested in Prague in 2012, extradited to America and jailed for 27 months.

He initially tried to claim he was seeking parts for aircraft used by the Iranian Red Crescent Society aid agency but eventually pleaded guilty to an offence of 'conspiracy to export prohibited items to an embargoed country'.

On his release from US prison in 2014, he was immediately returned to Britain, as his last country of residence – where he put in a claim for refugee status. 

The case has taken 10 years to resolve – with the UK government attempting to argue that because of his crime, he was not entitled to protection under the 1951 UN Refugee Convention as he had committed a 'serious crime outside the country of refuge'.

Hashemi also argued he should be protected under articles 2 and 3 of the Human Rights Act, the right to life and freedom from persecution.

He was first refused asylum in the UK in 2019 but allowed to stay pending an appeal.

An initial appeal to a First-Tier immigration Tribunal was rejected later that year but Hashemi was granted leave to make a further challenge.

Proceedings in the Upper Tier Tribunal have been ongoing since then – with a final outcome held back due to delays in the government presenting its defence case.

Immigration judges slammed 'very poor behaviour' by Home Office representatives and 'wholesale failure to engage with the upper tribunal' since the appeal was made.

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The Home Office blamed 'jurisdictional complexity' and lack of prior case law for why its defence had taken so long.

Sanctions were imposed against sale of weapons and aircraft parts to Iran in 2006 under a UN Security Council resolution.

Hashemi's activities were uncovered after officials from the US Department of Homeland Security 'received information that two individuals were utilising a company to purchase military parts on behalf of Iran' in 2011.

Undercover US agents were 'introduced to conspirators, and there was discussion as to quotes for parts', the immigration tribunal was told.

Hashemi – then living in Ealing, West London - was identified to the Americans as a 'contact based in the United Kingdom' whose role was to 'transfer purchase funds to the supplier', a company based in Italy.

He agreed to travel to Italy in May 2012 and transferred 70,000 Euros 'from a bank account he controlled as final payment for the purchase and shipment of military parts'.

Three months later, Hashemi was then persuaded to travel to Prague, where he unwittingly met the US 'undercover law enforcement agents' – and discussed a further 'shipment of US-manufactured military aircraft parts to Iran, possibly through Malaysia'.

He was arrested later that day by Czech authorities, held on remand for five months, then extradited to America.

Hashemi initially claimed he believed he had been dealing with 'representatives of Bell Helicopter, a United States aerospace manufacturer, and that the engine parts and spare parts for aeroplanes were being shipped with their end user to be the Iranian Red Crescent Society'.

He claimed to have seen a document during the meeting in Italy 'proving the goods were being legally exported to Iran'.

After his detention, Hashemi later 'agreed to provide the US authorities with information about other persons involved in the conspiracy'.

A pre-sentence report stated Hashemi was 'not the leader or organiser but essential to the commission of the offence' as the go-between, or 'middleman' in the conspiracy.

He was jailed for 27 months in 2013 by a United States District Court judge in California but released after 18 months and deported to Britain.

Since his return, Hashemi has worked as a company director for firms involved in petro-chemicals and an engineering and procurement.

Last May, Hashemi established a new company, Global Engineering and Procurement, of which he is sole director. 

The Upper Tier tribunal accepted arguments that for Hashemi to be excluded from claiming refugee status due to having committed a serious crime, it would have to happened before his entry to Britain – but his offending was after he had arrived.

It also accepted his Human Rights Act defences, saying he possessed a 'well-founded fear of persecution if returned to Iran' and that his 'asylum appeal is allowed'.

Speaking at his home in Ascot, Hashemi said yesterday: 'I'm happy to stay in the UK. It's solved now.'

He declined to comment about the aircraft parts smuggling and his prison sentence.

Asked for further comment, Hashemi, said: 'I don't want to go through all this. That (the case) is solved now. I don't want to bring it to the newspapers and these things.'

He declined to speak about his use of the Human Rights Act or his fears if returned to Iran.