The United States Treasury Department announced sanctions against a series of entities based in Iran, China, Hong Kong, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates that have allegedly supported Iran's drone program.
This network has provided financial support for transactions benefiting the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Aerospace Force Self Sufficiency Jihad Organization (IRGC ASF SSJO) and has facilitated their procurement of servomotors, a critical component used in Iran’s Shahed-series unmanned aerial vehicles.
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Iran has provided hundreds of Shahed drones to Russia, which has deployed them in Ukraine and has used them to target Ukrainian infrastructure. One of the servomotors procured by the network was found in the remnants of a drone shot down in Ukraine.
“Iranian-made UAVs continue to be a key tool for Russia in its attacks in Ukraine, including those that terrorize Ukrainian citizens and attack its critical infrastructure,” said Undersecretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson. “The United States, in coordination with our allies and partners, will persist in holding accountable those who contribute to Iran’s proliferation of its UAVs to Russia, its proxies in the Middle East, and other destabilizing actors.”
The Iranian firm Pishgam Electronic Safeh Company (PESC) and its CEO Hamid Reza Janghorbani were sanctioned for procuring “hundreds of thousands of dollars” worth of servomotors, as was the Hong Kong-based Hongkong Himark Electron Model Limited and Fan Yang, who represented the group in its sales of servomotor orders to PESC in Iran.
Turkey-based firms Dal Enerji Madencilik Turizm Sanayi Ve Ticaret Anonim Sirketi (Dal Enerji) and Anka Port Ic Ve Dis Ticaret INSAAT Lojistik Sanayi Limited Sirketi (Anka Port) were sanctioned for having facilitated hundreds of thousands of dollars in support of PESC's servomotor procurement, while the UAE-based Farhad Ghaedi Goods Wholesalers LLC (Farhad Ghaedi) has been accused of helping the shipment of thousands of servomotors through Dubai for onward delivery to Iran.
This is the ninth time the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has issued sanctions designating entities or individuals involved in Iran's drone program since Sept. 2022.
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The U.S. military and intelligence community have confirmed that Russia is using Iranian drones in Ukraine despite Tehran's continued and repeated denials. The U.S. has taken drones that were shot down in Ukraine and compared them to drones found in the Middle East from attacks Iran had claimed credit for and determined them to be one and the same.
Russia is constructing a production plant to build its own version of the Shaheds in the Alabuga Special Economic Zone, and the NSC said in June it could be "fully operational early next year."