Technology Firm Insists U.S. Charge Is Bum Rap : Export: Company accused of violating export law by shipping a satellite communications system to Iran says ruling vindicates it.

A technology company accused of violating federal export laws says it has received government approval to ship a satellite communications system to Brazil, even though a less sophisticated system bound for Iran was seized earlier this year.

Satellite Technology Management in Costa Mesa says a Commerce Department ruling that the system is “decontrolled” supports the company’s argument that Office of Export Enforcement agents should have never confiscated its cargo.

A $1.5-million shipment was seized in May on the docks in Long Beach. In an affidavit in support of its search warrant, a government agency alleged that Satellite Technology “willfully and knowingly” had broken the law.

Satellite Technology officials say that the affidavit’s allegations are repudiated by the ruling on the Brazilian shipment.

“This classification advisory shows once again that STM’s international transactions, including our shipment to Iran, are clearly decontrolled, thus rendering the Commerce Department investigation insupportable and unwarranted,” Satellite Technology President Emil Youssefzadeh said in a statement.

The government is remaining silent for now. Export Enforcement agents referred questions this week to federal prosecutors in Los Angeles, who said they cannot comment on an ongoing criminal investigation.

Export agents stopped the Iran shipment because it included a computer workstation that they said was barred from export. But Donald Alford Weadon Jr., a lawyer for Satellite Technology, argues that said the Brazil shipment includes two such workstations, making it even more potent.

Had the computer workstation alone been shipped to Iran, it could have required a special license because it is computer equipment. Because it is part of a larger telecommunications system, however, the system falls under a classification that makes shipment less complicated, Weadon said.

“No one is going to buy a $1.5-million system to get a $15,000 computer,” he said.