Kian Lajevardi told KTLA that his neighbor, Shamim Mafi, was like a mother figure to him, often cooking for him and talking to him about world events, including the war in Iran.
What Lagivardi didn’t know was that Maffei, who lived a few doors down from him in an apartment complex in Woodland Hills, might have been part of an operation to smuggle weapons into Sudan for the Iranian government.
Mavi, 44, was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport on Saturday evening and was heading to Türkiye. Officials announced on Sunday that she was accused of brokering the sale of Iranian-made drones, bombs, bomb fuses and millions of rounds of ammunition to Sudan, which is in the midst of a political crisis. civil war.
A criminal complaint alleges that she and another accomplice ran a company out of Amman called Atlantis International, and through that company they smuggled weapons and ammunition.
In 2025, the company allegedly received payments worth $7 million.
This comes as a surprise to Kian Lajevardi, who said KTLA 5’s Rachel Minnitoff said she was divorced and lived alone, but not very lavishly.
“I am shocked and puzzled at how someone like this could take such high risks,” he said.
Moreover, he said that he and Mafi would often talk about the ongoing war in Iran, the latter’s birthplace. Federal officials confirmed on Sunday that she has been a legal, permanent resident of the United States since 2016.
“We just talked about the situation in Iran and when the war will end,” he said. “I never thought it had anything to do with the Iranian government. This is crazy to me.”
Mafi is expected to make her first court appearance on Monday afternoon. A trial date has not yet been set for her.
If convicted as charged, she faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in federal prison.