The United States has imposed sanctions on a dozen Iranian entities, individuals, and vessels that have played a key role in facilitating and financing the clandestine sale of domestically manufactured drones for Iranian military.
Iran’s Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics (MODAFL) is involved in supporting the Iranian regime’s UAV development and procurement, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) imposed sanctions on Sahara Thunder, the main front company that oversees MODAFL’s commercial activities in support of these efforts.
Sahara Thunder also plays a key role in Iran’s design, development, manufacture, and sale of thousands of UAVs, many of them ultimately transferred to Russia for use in its war against Ukraine.
Those targeted include leading officials of Sahara Thunder – Kazem Mirzai Kondori, Hossein Bakshayesh, and Hojat Abdulahi Fard.
Sahara Thunder relies on a vast shipping network involved in the sale and shipment of Iranian commodities on behalf of MODAFL to multiple jurisdictions including China, Russia, and Venezuela.
Concurrent with the punitive action by the U.S., the United Kingdom and Canada also are imposing sanctions targeting several entities and individuals involved in Iran’s UAV procurement and other military-related activities, the State Department said.
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