US Targets Procurement Network Supporting Iran’s Drone Program

September 27, 2023

1 min read

A Shahed-136 “kamikaze” drone, manufactured by the U.S.-designated Iran Aircraft Manufacturing Industrial Company, flies over Kyiv during an attack on October 17, 2022

The United States has imposed sanctions on five entities and two individuals based in Iran, China, Hong Kong, Türkiye and the United Arab Emirates it said were helping procure “sensitive parts” for Tehran’s one-way attack drone program.

“This network has facilitated shipments and financial transactions in support of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Aerospace Force Self Sufficiency Jihad Organization’s (IRGC ASF SSJO) procurement of servomotors, a critical component used in Iran’s Shahed-series UAVs,” the Treasury Department said in a statement on September 27.

The Islamic Republic has been supplying Russia with Shahed-136 drones to support its invasion of Ukraine, it said, adding that one of the servomotors procured by the designated network “was recovered in the remnants of a Russia-operated Shahed-136 that was recently shot down in Ukraine.”

The European Union, the United States and other countries have issued multiple rounds of sanctions against the Islamic Republic in recent months over its crackdown on dissent and its supply of drones to Russia.

The West has also imposed sanctions on Russia over its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

“Iranian-made UAVs continue to be a key tool for Russia in its attacks in Ukraine, including those that terrorise Ukrainian citizens and attack its critical infrastructure,” said Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson.

“The United States, in coordination with our allies and partners, will persist in holding accountable those who contribute to Iran’s proliferation of its UAVs to Russia, its proxies in the Middle East, and other destabilizing actors,” he added.