The U.S. Treasury Department on July 30 announced sanctions on individuals and entities that have aided Iranian ballistic missile development and procurement through Tehran’s Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics.
The five individuals and seven entities are based in Iran, China, and Hong Kong.
The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control said in a press release that those sanctioned have procured “various components, including accelerometers and gyroscopes, which serve as key inputs to Iran’s ballistic missile and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) program.”
The Treasury Department alleged that one of the sanctioned Iranian companies -- the Electro Optic Sairan Industries Company -- also contributed to the Shahed Aviation Industries Research Center’s development of Shahed-series UAVs, which the Treasury said “are being used by Russian forces in Ukraine.”
The United States designated the Iranian Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics in 2007, citing weapons of mass destruction and their delivery, according to the press release. The ministry is connected to Iran’s ballistic missile program.
“Iran’s reckless proliferation of its ballistic missiles and UAVs risk further instability and endangers civilian lives,” Treasury Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson said. “The United States will continue to impose costs on those that facilitate Iran’s ability to produce these deadly weapons.”
The announcement came on the same day as the swearing in of Iranian President Masud Pezeshkian, a moderate reformist and former heart surgeon who won a snap election following the death of hard-line president Ebrahim Raisi in May.
While Pezeshkian is expected to be a more moderate Iranian president, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said “the supreme leader continues to call the shots” at a July 19 fireside chat.
Blinken “resolutely” affirmed that, per U.S. policy, Iran must not be allowed to get a nuclear weapon and said the U.S. has been “maximizing pressure on Iran across the board,” including through more than 600 sanctions on Iranian people and entities.