The United States has issued new sanctions targeting six individuals linked to Iranian drone manufacturer Quds Aviation Industries, a key defense manufacturer responsible for the design and production of drones used by Russia in its war against Ukraine, the U.S. Treasury Department said on January 6.
The sanctions apply to “executives and board members” of the company, which the department said transferred drones “for use in Russia’s unprovoked war of aggression in Ukraine.”
Drones have been used since October to target civilian infrastructure in Ukraine, including electrical power stations, causing widespread power outages as cold weather sets in.
The Treasury Department said that Quds Aviation Industries, a previously sanctioned Iranian defense manufacturer, changed its name to Light Airplanes Design and Manufacturing Industries in mid-2020 to evade sanctions.
“Iran has now become Russia’s top military backer,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement. “Iran must cease its support for Russia’s unprovoked war of aggression in Ukraine, and we will continue to use every tool at our disposal to disrupt and delay these transfers and impose costs on actors engaged in this activity."
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the United States “will continue to use every tool at our disposal to deny Putin the weapons that he is using to wage his barbaric and unprovoked war on Ukraine.”
The latest sanctions follow a round imposed in November on Iranian-based Shahed Aviation Industries Research Center, which the United States also accused of being involved in the production of drones transferred to Russia.
After those sanctions were announced, Iran’s foreign minister acknowledged that his country has supplied Russia with drones but said they were transferred before Moscow invaded Ukraine more than 10 months ago.
Iranian Ambassador to the UN Amir Saeid Iravani said in December at a UN Security Council meeting that Iranian-made drones were not transferred to Russia for use in Ukraine. He said reports to the contrary were part of a “misinformation campaign” to divert attention from Western states transferring weaponry to Ukraine in order to prolong the conflict.
The United States, however, said in December that Iran sold hundreds of attack drones to Russia during the summer.
Yellen said the Kremlin’s reliance on “suppliers of last resort” like Iran shows Russia’s desperation “in the face of brave Ukrainian resistance and the success of our global coalition in disrupting Russian military supply chains.”
The sanctions announced on January 6 by the Treasury Department also blacklisted the director of Iran's Aerospace Industries Organization (AIO), which oversees the country’s ballistic missile programs. AIO was sanctioned by the United States in 2005.
The sanctions freeze any assets the individuals have under U.S. jurisdiction, inhibit their access to global financial markets, and bar people based in the United States from dealing with them.