Seyed Sajjad Shahidian, the head of Payment24 [company], was sentenced by Judge Patrick J. Schiltz in US District Court in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Thursday, Press TV reported.

Shahidian was accused of circumventing US sanctions by helping Iranian citizens engage in financial dealings with American firms, including the purchase of computer servers and digital software.

The online financial services company had approximately 40 employees and offices in the Iranian capital of Tehran as well as in major cities of Shiraz and Esfahan.

According to the court statement, the financial transactions carried out by the 33-year-old had brought in millions of dollars of foreign currency into Iran and posed threats to the US national security interests.

Shahidian was also accused of using a fake name and passport to bypass US sanctions.

The Iranian citizen — described by the court as a “high-profile executive” and a “millionaire”— was arrested in London on November 11, 2018, and was extradited to the United States on May 15, 2020.

The US unleashed its so-called maximum pressure campaign against Iran in 2018, when it left the 2015 multilateral nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

Following its withdrawal, Washington targeted the Iranian nation with the “toughest ever” economic sanctions, which Tehran has denounced as economic terrorism.

The sanctions have also blocked legal ways through which Iran can have financial dealings with its trade partners across the world as they have been threatened by the US to face consequences over the breach of the restrictive measures.

The US administration has so far defied international calls to halt its unilateral sanctions on Tehran and has over the past year slapped more restrictive measures on the Islamic Republic at a time that the whole world is grappling to contain the coronavirus pandemic.

In a case involving former White House counsel Don McGahn, subpoenaed in May by the House Judiciary Committee, Judge Ketanji Jackson ruled that administration officials cannot claim absolute immunity from impeachment subpoenas based on their closeness to the US leader. Iran News quotes what AFP reported on Tuesday.

While Jackson ruled specifically on McGahn’s case, she said it had broad application to all current and former presidential aides.

“Presidents are not kings,” Jackson wrote in her decision.

“No one, not even the head of the Executive branch, is above the law.”

She said Congress has the power to subpoena any of the president’s advisors, whether they are involved in domestic policies or sensitive national security issues.

“It goes without saying that the law applies to former White House Counsel Don McGahn, just as it does to other current and former senior-level White House officials,” she wrote.

No ‘absolute immunity’

That ruling could open a path for the House Intelligence Committee – which is building a case for impeachment charges against Trump — to force testimony from three top witnesses: former national security advisor John Bolton, White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

All are believed to have direct knowledge of Trump’s alleged demand that Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky open investigations into Trump’s Democratic rivals in exchange for a high profile summit and much-needed military aid.

“To those witnesses who hide behind fallacious claims of absolute immunity, this ruling shows again how meritless their position remains,” intelligence committee chairman Adam Schiff said in a statement.

The ruling could also give fresh life to the stalled impeachment case in the Judiciary Committee, which has tried to develop charges against Trump for obstructing investigation into the alleged Russian collusion led by Special Counsel Robert Mueller.

Mueller’s final report in April outlined 10 acts of alleged obstruction by the president.

“Don McGahn is a central witness to allegations that President Trump obstructed Special Counsel Mueller’s investigation,” Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler said in a statement.

“The administration’s claim that officials can claim ‘absolute immunity’ from Congressional subpoenas has no basis in law, as the court recognized today.”

But testimony won’t happen right away, as the Justice Department plans to appeal Jackson’s decision, said department spokesperson Kerri Kupec.

That could take the case to the Supreme Court, and in the meantime, the department could seek a court stay to prevent McGahn or others from speaking before the two committees.