WASHINGTON: The United States has imposed sanctions on entities spanning Iran, Hong Kong, and Turkey, identified as components of a network responsible for procuring parts crucial to Iran’s drone program. The US Treasury Department has taken this action in response to the network’s role in facilitating shipments and financial transactions in support of vital components used in Iran’s Shahed drones.
Specifically, the sanctions target the procurement of servomotors, a critical component used in Iran’s Shahed-series unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). These UAVs have been supplied by Iran to Russia for use, particularly in the context of the conflict in Ukraine.
The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) revealed that the network has been instrumental in the procurement of servomotors by the aerospace organization of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). Notably, one of the servomotors acquired through this network was discovered amidst the wreckage of a Russian-operated Shahed-136 UAV recently downed in Ukraine.
Under Secretary of the Treasury Brian Nelson emphasized the significance of Iranian-made UAVs in Russia’s operations in Ukraine, including their use in attacks on critical infrastructure and the intimidation of Ukrainian citizens.
US Imposes Sanctions on Iranian Drone-Procurement Network
Among the entities subjected to sanctions, two are prominently featured: Iran-based Pishgam Electronic Safeh Company (PESC) and Hongkong Himark Electron Model Limited. PESC has been identified as a procurer of thousands of servomotors with one-way attack UAV applications worth hundreds of thousands of dollars for the IRGC. In addition to the company, PESC’s CEO, Hamid Reza Janghorbani, based in Iran, has been designated for sanctions.
Hongkong Himark Electron Model Limited, a Hong Kong-based entity, is also targeted for sanctions due to its involvement in fulfilling servomotor orders worth over $1 million for PESC. Fan Yang, an official associated with Hongkong Himark, located in China, has been sanctioned for representing the company and for attempts to conceal the Iranian origins of the shipments through the falsification of invoices.
The sanctions build upon previous designations made in November 2022 by the OFAC, which aimed at Iran’s Shahed Aviation Industries Research Center, a subsidiary of the IRGC’s aerospace organization responsible for designing and manufacturing the Shahed-136. These sanctions freeze any assets held by the individuals or entities in US jurisdiction and prohibit any dealings with them by individuals or entities within the United States.
