Further US sanctions aim at Iranian ballistic missile and UAV programmes
The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (‘OFAC’) has imposed sanctions on individuals and entities in Iran and China that it said ‘procure various components, including accelerometers and gyroscopes, which serve as key inputs to Iran’s ballistic missile and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) program.’
It said the 30 July action targeted five individuals and seven entities based in Iran, mainland China and Hong Kong that ‘have facilitated procurements on behalf of subordinates of Iran’s Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics (MODAFL).’
The United States and allies like Britain and the European Union have been escalating sanctions against the Iranian UAV industry since the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine by Russia, which Tehran says has been the major client for its drones. Moscow has used combat drones to devastating effect in its war in Ukraine.
‘Today’s action exposes additional key front companies and trusted agents through which Iran has sought to acquire these components,’ said Treasury Under Secretary Brian Nelson. ‘The United States will continue to impose costs on those that facilitate Iran’s ability to produce these deadly weapons,’ he said in comments that came a day before Beijing rolled out a long list of export controls on drone parts, especially those categorised as dual-use (see China article below).
Treasury’s latest action targeted the following entities:
- Azmoon Pajohan Hesgar LLC: Iran; linked to MODAFL
- Bright Shore Inc Limited: Hong Kong; linked to Thomas Ho Ming Tong
- BTW International Limited: Hong Kong; linked to Electro Optic Sairan Industries Co.
- Buy Best Electronic Pars Company: Iran; linked to Saeed Hamidi Javar
- Cloud Element Company Limited: Hong Kong; linked to Electro Optic Sairan Industries Co.
- Shenzhen Rion Technology Co., Ltd.: China; linked to MODAFL
- Tas Technology Company Ltd.: Hong Kong; linked to Electro Optic Sairan Industries Co.
The following individuals were also targeted:
- Mohammad Abdollahi: Iran; linked to Electro Optic Sairan Industries Co.
- Sayyed Ali Seraj Hashemi: China; Iran; linked to Beijing Shiny Nights Technology Development Co., Ltd.
- Saeed Hamidi Javar: Iran; linked to Beijing Shiny Nights Technology Development Co., Ltd.
- Ezzatullah Ghasemian Sorbani: Iran; linked to Azmoon Pajohan Hesgar Limited Liability Company
- Thomas Ho Ming Tong: China; linked to Electro Optic Sairan Industries Co.
