The Treasury said the action was taken pursuant to Trump’s Feb. 4 national security memorandum.
The Treasury Department sanctioned five entities and one individual based in Iran, China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong on July 31 for allegedly aiding Iran’s state-owned military aircraft and drone company to procure technology.
The department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said its sanctions target Javad Alizadeh Hoshyar and five foreign entities linked to the Iran Aircraft Manufacturing Industrial Company (HESA).
HESA, a U.S.-sanctioned Iranian military aircraft manufacturer, operates as a subsidiary of Iran’s Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics. It produces the Ababil drone series, which is used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a terrorist organization.
The sanctioned entities include Iran-based Control Afzar Tabriz Co Ltd., which Hoshyar allegedly used to procure computer numerical control machines and related equipment for HESA. Those machines are used to create components for commercial and military aircraft, according to OFAC.
OFAC also sanctioned Clifton Trading Limited, a Hong Kong-based company that allegedly acted as an alternative consignee and intermediary in Control Afzar’s procurement of those machines for HESA.
Other sanctioned entities include Mecatron Machinery Co Ltd. and Joemars Machinery and Electric Industrial Co Ltd.—both are Taiwan-based companies accused of aiding Control Afzar circumvent U.S. sanctions to ship machines to Iran—as well as Changzou Joemars Industrial Automation Co Ltd., a subsidiary of Joemars, located in China.
John Hurley, the Treasury’s under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said the sanctions are part of the department’s efforts to disrupt Iran’s ability to undermine regional stability.
“Iran continues to pursue the development of asymmetric weapons capabilities, including unmanned aerial vehicles, to carry out attacks on the United States, our servicemembers and our partners and allies in the region,” Hurley said in a statement.
The sanctions will freeze all assets of the designated companies and the individual, within U.S. jurisdiction, and prohibit U.S. persons from conducting any transactions with them unless permitted by OFAC.
OFAC stated that the action was taken pursuant to President Donald Trump’s Feb. 4 national security memorandum aimed at imposing a “maximum pressure” campaign to deny Iran all paths to a nuclear weapon.
