UK Sanctions Iranian Drone Maker, Other Suppliers to Russian Military

The UK government has slapped sanctions on an Iranian drone maker and other foreign businesses accused of supplying Russia with weapons and military components for use against Ukraine.

"Today's landmark sanctions will further diminish Russia’s arsenal and close the net on supply chains propping up Russian President] Putin's now struggling defence industry," Foreign Minister James Cleverly said in a statement on August 8.

The British government set out 25 new sanctions on businesses and individuals in Iran, Turkey, Belarus, Slovakia, Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates, North Korea and Russia.

Iranian drone maker Paravar Pars Company and seven of its executives already subject to US sanctions are among those targeted.

The statement described Paravar Pars as “a key regime-linked UAV manufacturer” and accused the Islamic Republic of being “responsible for supplying Russia with the kamikaze drones used to bombard Ukraine.”

The sanctions prohibit UK entities from providing trust services to those sanctioned and impose asset freezes.

The British government, which has sanctioned over 1,600 individuals and entities since Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, said the latest round of sanctions marked “the biggest ever UK action on military suppliers in third countries.”

The European Union, the United States, the UK and other countries have issued several rounds of sanctions against the Islamic Republic in recent months over its crackdown on anti-government protests and its supply of drones to Russia for its war effort in Ukraine.