The United States added five Chinese companies to its sanctions list Thursday for supplying drone components to Iran.
The US Treasury Department indirectly linked these Chinese companies to the attacks launched by Russia in Ukraine, in addition to the Iranian attacks targeting oil tankers in the Gulf, in which, in both cases, the Shahed-136 drones produced by the Iranian aircraft manufacturing company “HESA” were used.
The Treasury Department stated that these companies in Hangzhou, Shenzhen, Guilin and Hong Kong shipped light engines and other components for the manufacture of drones to the “Hessa” company, which is run by the Iranian Ministry of Defense.
The ministry added that these companies are “responsible for selling and shipping thousands of aircraft components, including those that can be used for drone applications.”
“Iran is directly responsible for the Ukrainian civilian casualties resulting from Russia’s use of Iranian drones in Ukraine,” said Brian Nelson, Assistant Secretary of the Treasury.
In a separate action, the US Treasury Department designated 29 companies and entities in Iran, Hong Kong, China, Dubai and elsewhere for helping Tehran sell oil products on international markets in violation of the sanctions imposed on it.
US sanctions prevent targeted companies from accessing international financial markets and services by freezing their assets under US jurisdiction, in addition to preventing US companies and banks and those that have branches in the US from dealing with them.
