WPC]  3qMzzb8Fq@F M%#}q+}0Qmtiy`㧺hbKzT$[9fIo27ݶXGj?I 6ʣ4xnzEPÅԻ0-qsŲ$LhY׷FcYWw9AIzk7׵٩GX&?Q;E6rҨHgyd(Gˡ׀Mzi8ԕ.;Am )Ss;333]x3,F'won?/FxQ}A2le*<ȉ.&_4k]KNgWF2zS:UM9ƘEC:[KLSsSQ%+U\*Z'Ù:aHk"&h+X|w4IpuJh<@WIoF^1ex)ʳ _Z#UN % 0: ^ C wO 4S g v mx Z Z NC C NE 0G E   0D B@ Hewlett-Packard HP LaserJet P3010 Series0(9 Z6Times New Roman RegularX($USUS.,{J;EJ!PCsg<3|xU8DocumentManagement::ModifiedBooleanTRUE8DocumentManagement::ModifiedBooleanTRUE(Y(2$ !USUS.,   XX      0    $USUS., XX      1    _ThefindingabouttheIraniancitizenshipofApplicantsrelativesisfoundintheAnalysis.Decisionat10.(#$  0   d !USUS.,  _KEYWORD:GuidelineB;GuidelineC  DIGEST:ApplicantcitestoevidenceofhistieswithintheU.S.,hispermanentresidenceinthis  countryforseveraldecades,andhislackofrecentcontactwithhissiblings.Hearguesthathe t wouldnotyieldtopressurebyforeigngovernments.Applicantsargumentsarenotenoughto ` demonstratethattheJudgeweighedtheevidenceinamannerthatwasarbitrary,capricious,or L  contrarytolaw.Adversedecisionaffirmed. 8  _CASENO_:1504852.a1  ` DATE:05/25/2017  8  ___________________________   `     h      p DATE:May25,2017   .؉7r(#(#.AY) xdEogA p InRe: k      / ApplicantforPublicTrustPosition W AY) xdEgA / ) p ) \ ) H ) 4 )  p )  \ ) H ) 4    ! pX p ADPCaseNo.1504852 4$   p% .؉7r. \XXp %    APPEALBOARDDECISION & APPEARANCES X )  &%XX FORGOVERNMENT  0"+ JamesB.Norman,Esq.,ChiefDepartmentCounsel #X,  FORAPPLICANT  $ .  Prose #XX%&# % /     TheDepartmentofDefense(DoD)declinedtograntApplicantatrustworthinessdesignation. >(#2 OnJanuary30,2016,DoDissuedastatementofreasons(_SOR_)advisingApplicantofthebasisfor *)z$3 thatdecision!trustworthinessconcernsraisedunderGuidelineB(ForeignInfluence)Departmentof *f%4 DefenseDirective5220.6(Jan.2,1992,asamended)(Directive).Applicantrequestedahearing. +R&5 Duringthehearing,theJudgegrantedaGovernmentmotiontoamendthe_SOR_Ԁbyaddingan +>'6 allegationunderGuidelineC(ForeignPreference).Tr.at5559.OnMarch1,2017,afterthe ,*(7 hearing,DefenseOfficeofHearingsandAppeals(DOHA)AdministrativeJudgeRogerC.Wesley -)8 deniedApplicantsrequestforatrustworthinessdesignation.Applicantappealedpursuantto  DirectiveE3.1.28andE3.1.30.  _  Applicantraisedthefollowingissueonappeal:whethertheJudgesdecisionwasarbitrary, t capricious,orcontrarytolaw.TheJudgesfavorablefindingsunderGuidelineCarenotatissuein ` thisappeal.Consistentwiththefollowing,weaffirm. L    TheJudgesFindingsofFact  $ t   TheJudgemadethefollowingfindingspertinenttotheissuesraisedonappeal:Applicant  L  cametotheU.S.inthelate1970s,becomingacitizenofthiscountryintheearly1990s.Hiswife  8  isaU.S.citizenbybirth.Thecouplehasnochildren. $    ApplicantsparentswerecitizensandresidentsofIran. #  1      ׀Theyhavepassedaway,butbefore   thatApplicantprovidedthemwithfinancialsupportonoccasion.Hehashadinfrequentcontactwith   hisIranianrelativesforthepastseveralyears.NoneofApplicantssiblingshaveanyknown   connectionswiththeIranianmilitaryorgovernment.Helasttoldhisfamilyaboutthenatureofhis p workinthemid2000s.Since2011,hehaskeptthenatureofhisworkfromthem. \   Iransupportsterroristorganizations.ItsproxiesplaydisruptiverolesintheMiddleEast.Iran 4 hasconductedintelligenceoperationsagainsttheU.S.,whichhaveincreasedindepthand  p complexity.Thecountrycommitshumanrightsviolations,anditsometimesplacesforeignvisitors  \ undersurveillance,monitoringhotelrooms,telephones,andfaxmachines. H   Applicantenjoysanexcellentreputationforthequalityofhisworkperformance.He   receivedacertificateofappreciationforhisexemplaryservice.     TheJudgesAnalysis     TheJudgeconcludedthatApplicanthadnotmitigatedconcernsarisingfromhisfamily l connectionsinIran.Hestatedthat,givenIranshistoryofmonitoringcommunicationssystems, X  theseconnectionscouldcometotheattentionofthoseinIraninterestedinacquiringU.S.protected D! data.Indeed,itcannotberuledoutthatthismayalreadyhaveoccurred.Healsocitedtoevidence 0"  ofterroristactivityinIran,thecountryshumanrightsabuses,andtheillegalexportingofU.S. #l! technologyasmattersthatweighagainstthegrantingofatrustworthinessdesignation. $X"   Discussion  %0!$   ApplicantcitestoevidenceofhistieswithintheU.S.,hispermanentresidenceinthiscountry '#& forseveraldecades,andhislackofrecentcontactwithhissiblings.Hearguesthathewouldnot (#' yieldtopressurebyforeigngovernments.Applicantsargumentsarenotenoughtodemonstratethat )$( theJudgeweighedtheevidenceinamannerthatwasarbitrary,capricious,orcontrarytolaw.See, |*%) e.g.,ADPCaseNo.1209387at2(App.Bd.Apr.26,2016). h+&* Ї  TheJudgeexaminedtherelevantdataandarticulatedasatisfactoryexplanationforthe  decision.InForeignInfluencecases,thenatureoftheforeigngovernmentinvolved,theintelligence  gatheringhistoryofthatgovernment,andthepresenceofterroristactivityareimportant  considerationsthatprovidecontextfortheotherrecordevidenceandmustbebroughttobearonthe t Judgesultimateconclusionsinthecase.Thecountryshumanrightsrecordisalsoanimportant ` consideration.See,e.g.,ADPCaseNo.0810099at23(App.Bd.Jan.28,2011).Thedecisionis L  sustainableonthisrecord.Thestandardapplicabletotrustworthinesscasesisthatsetforthin 8  DepartmentoftheNavyv.Egan,484U.S.518,528(1988)regardingsecurityclearances:sucha $ t determination maybegrantedonlywhenclearlyconsistentwiththeinterestsofthenational  ` security.See,e.g.,ADPCaseNo.1204343at3(App.Bd.May21,2013).SeealsoKaplanv.  L  Conyers,733F.3d1148(Fed.Cir.2013),cert.denied.  8  @( Order      TheDecisionis AFFIRMED .      `     h   Signed:WilliamS.Fields L    `     h   WilliamS.Fields 8    `     h   AdministrativeJudge $t    `     h   Member,AppealBoard `    `     h   Signed:JamesE.Moody     `     h   JamesE.Moody     `     h   AdministrativeJudge     `     h   Member,AppealBoard     `     h   Signed:JamesF.Duffy 4"     `     h   JamesF.Duffy  #p!    `     h   AdministrativeJudge  $\"    `     h   Member,AppealBoard