DHAKA: An Iranian-American engineer accused of attempting to ship stolen documentation on a high-tech military plane to Iran has been indicted, US authorities say.

A grand jury in the US state of Connecticut charged Mozaffar Khazaee, 59, with two counts of transporting stolen goods.

He was arrested on 9 January for trying to smuggle thousands of pages of F-35 Joint Strike Fighter documents, reports BBC.

If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison.

Mozaffar Khazaee is accused of transporting, transmitting and transferring in interstate commerce goods obtained by theft, conversion or fraud, according to court documents.

He is said to have stolen the sensitive materials from defence contracting companies where he was employed, Connecticut US Attorney Deirdre Daly told US media on Tuesday.

The engineer is an ex-employee of military contractor Pratt & Whitney and in that capacity was responsible for carrying out strength tests on engine parts, US media have reported.

He was made redundant from a defence contractor in August, prosecutors said.

BDST: 0851 HRS, JAN 22, 2014