Iranian that US accuses of selling technology to Iran’s military returns home from France

Iranian wanted by US flies home from France

PARIS — An Iranian detained in France on accusations he evaded export controls to purchase technology over the Internet to sell to Iran’s military has left the country.

Diane Francois, a lawyer for Majid Kakavand, says the 37-year-old engineer left France for Iran on Friday.

He was taken into custody in March 2009 as he arrived in Paris for a vacation, was imprisoned for six months and then released on condition he stay in the French capital.

The United States had been seeking Kakavand’s extradition, but a French court rejected the request earlier this week. The U.S. claims he went online to purchase sensitive U.S. electronics and had them shipped to Malaysia, then on to Iranian military entities.