On September 27, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the U.S. Department of the Treasury sanctioned five organizations and two individuals involved in acquiring sensitive components for Iran's one-way attack unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) program. The entities targeted include organizations and individuals with offices in Iran, the PRC, Hong Kong, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
According to Brian E. Nelson, Iranian-made UAVs continue to be a key tool for Russia in its attacks in Ukraine, including those that terrorize Ukrainian citizens and attack critical infrastructure.
Through this network, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Aerospace Force Self Sufficiency Jihad Organization has been able to purchase servomotors, a vital component utilized in Iran's Shahed-series unmanned aerial vehicles. One of the servomotors that the network designated today was found in the wreckage of a Shahed-136 UAV that was recently downed in Ukraine and controlled by Russia.
OFAC has targeted Iran's UAV program with nine rounds of designations since September 2022. The Shahed Aviation Industries Research Center (SAIRC), a company under the IRGC ASF that develops and produces the Shahed-136 one-way attack UAV, was designated on November 15, 2022. The IRGC ASF and the IRGC ASF SSJO were previously designated on June 16, 2010, and July 18, 2017, respectively.
For Iran's IRGC ASF SSJO, the Pishgam Electronic Safeh Company (PESC) based in Iran has purchased thousands of servomotors with one-way assault UAV applications. Hamid Reza Janghorbani, the CEO of PESC, is being designated for acting on behalf of the company. Hongkong Himark Electron Model Limited (Hongkong Himark), based in Hong Kong, has completed numerous servomotor orders totaling more than $1 million for PESC in Iran. Hongkong Himark representative Fan Yang, based in the PRC, took steps to conceal the Iranian end-user of the shipments when supplying servomotors to PESC. Fan and Hongkong Himark also provided servomotors worth more than $100,000 to the Houthis in Yemen.
The sanctions imposed by OFAC aim to disrupt the procurement networks that support Iran's UAV program and its cooperation with Russia. These measures demonstrate the U.S. government's commitment to countering the destabilizing activities of Iran and its allies.
