US Announces New Iran-Related Sanctions For Cyber, UAV, Missile Programs

The US Treasury has imposed sanctions on several Iran- and Hong-Kong based companies for supplying Tehran’s ballistic missile and drone programs.

The Treasury also said on Friday that it had imposed sanctions on six officials of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp's Cyber Electronic Command for malicious cyber activities against critical infrastructure in the United States and elsewhere.

The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned the key procurement network of suppliers of materials and sensitive technology for Iran’s ballistic missile and drone programs, including the Shahed-series UAV produced by Iran’s Shahed Aviation Industries Research Center (SAIRC).

On Friday, OFAC designated four entities that have functioned as covert procurement intermediaries for Hamed Dehghan and Pishtazan Kavosh Gostar Boshra (PKGB), both OFAC-designated individuals actively supporting various Iranian military organizations, including the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC).

In addition, OFAC also designated another Hong Kong-based front company involved in selling hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of Iranian commodities for the benefit of the IRGC's extraterritorial Qods Force (IRGC-QF).

“Iran’s continued proliferation of its advanced conventional weapons, including the UAVs and missiles that target US soldiers, remains a critical threat to the stability of the region,” said Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson.

“The deliberate targeting of critical infrastructure by Iranian cyber actors is an unconscionable and dangerous act,” Nelson added.