Drone manufacturers sanctioned, banned from doing business with Russia

The U.S. Treasury Department on Friday imposed financial sanctions on four entities and one individual linked to Iran’s drone manufacturing program.

The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control designated the four entities in response to the entities’ doing business with and providing technology to Russian military forces during Russia’s ongoing war with Ukraine.

Additionally, OFAC sanctioned Afshin Khajeh Fard, an executive at Iran’s Aerospace Industries Organization, a subsidiary of Iran’s Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics that oversees the production of drones, on Friday.

The European Union has imposed similar sanctions on the company.

Treasury officials alleged that Fard and the four Iran-based companies were doing business with Rayan Roshd Afzar, another Iranian company already sanctioned by OFAC.

U.S. officials have previously imposed sanctions on other entities that did business with the sanctioned Rayan Roshd Afzar company.

Rayan Roshan Afzar was initially designated in 2017 by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.

“Specifically, RRA produced technical components for the IRGC’s drone program,” the Treasury Department said in a statement on Friday.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Considered a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. Department of National Intelligence.

Friday’s sanctions mean all property and interests in property in the United States or controlled by U.S. citizens are frozen.

“Today’s action reinforces our resolve to stop Iran’s production and proliferation of lethal drones, which Russia continues to use against Ukraine and regional terrorist proxies against our forces,” Brian Nielsen, the Treasury Department’s undersecretary for terrorism and financial BroadCast Unitedligence, said in the agency’s statement.

“Treasury will continue to impose fees on those who seek to procure components needed for Iran’s drone program and ship these weapons to destabilizing actors around the world.” (United Press International)