The United States will slap fresh sanctions on Iranian military and business concerns involved in the delivery of combat drones to Russia for deployment against Ukraine, the US Treasury Department said on Thursday.
The sanctions will target primarily Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, who are already under a series of sanctions, particularly in connection with the Iranian nuclear issue, in addition to being on Washington’s blacklist of “terrorist organizations.”
“The United States is committed to strictly enforcing our sanctions against both Russia and Iran and holding accountable Iran and those supporting Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine,” Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson said in a statement on Thursday.
Several companies involved in drone research, and the development and production of drones, along with the Iranian company in charge of transporting the drones to Russia are also directly targeted.
The planned sanctions include the freezing of all assets and property owned by these businesses in the United States. They also increase the risk for international companies trading with those targeted of being themselves subject to sanctions.
Faced with the difficulties encountered by the Russian army in the conflict in Ukraine, and the significant losses of military equipment, Moscow has made several arms purchases in recent weeks, not only from Iran, but also from North Korea.
Iran announced on Monday that it was considering buying Russian Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jets, according to the head of the Iranian Air Force, General Hamid Vahedi.
