The U.S. Department of the Treasury announced on Tuesday (December 30) sanctions against 10 individuals and entities located in Iran and Venezuela for their involvement in radical and deadly weapons programs. The sanctioned targets include a Venezuelan company that assists Iran in exporting unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV).
According to John K. Hurley, Deputy Secretary of the Treasury responsible for counterterrorism and financial intelligence, the Treasury is holding Iran and Venezuela accountable for recklessly spreading deadly weapons globally. The United States will continue to take swift action to prevent individuals supporting Iran’s military-industrial complex from accessing the U.S. financial system.
This action follows further measures taken by the Treasury in October and November to support the reinstatement of United Nations sanctions against Iran. The U.S. pointed out that Iran’s drone and missile programs threaten U.S. forces and allies in the Middle East, as well as disrupt commercial navigation stability in the Red Sea. Additionally, Iran continues to provide conventional weapons to the Maduro regime in Venezuela, posing a threat to U.S. interests in the Western Hemisphere, including homeland security.
The focus of today’s sanctions targets Empresa Aeronautica Nacional SA (EANSA), headquartered in Venezuela, and its chairman.
EANSA is responsible for assembling the “Mohajer” series of drones designed by Iran’s state-owned QAI in Venezuela.
These Iranian drones are renamed the ANSU series in Venezuela, such as the ANSU-100, with the capability to launch the “Qaem” air-to-ground guided bomb designed by Iran.
The Treasury also imposed sanctions on three Iranian individuals involved in ballistic missiles and high-tech systems. They are suspected of procuring chemicals for solid fuel rocket engines for ballistic missiles for the “Parchin Chemical Industries” (PCI) company, such as sodium chlorate, decyl dicarboxylic acid, and nitrocellulose.
In this action, the U.S. Treasury further expands its crackdown on the defense holdings group Rayan Fan (Rayan Fan Kav Andish Co, RFKA). The group and its subsidiaries are accused of providing key components and software support for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) drone program. Two related entities and three individuals have been sanctioned in this round.
As per today’s action, all sanctioned individuals’ assets and property in the U.S. or controlled by U.S. persons are frozen and must be reported to the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). Furthermore, any entity directly or indirectly owned 50% or more by one or more sanctioned persons is also subject to asset freeze.