US puts sanctions on network behind ‘Iran’s drone program’

The Treasury said on its website on Wednesday that its Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) had blacklisted three companies in Hong Kong and three firms in China for providing components needed in drone production to an Iranian company and its subsidiary.

The Iranian company Pishtazan Kavosh Gostar Boshra (PKGB) and its subsidiary Narin Sepehr Mobin Isatis (NSMI) had been designated by OFAC in February last year.

However, OFAC said that the new sanctions seek to target PKGB’s efforts to reconstitute its procurement network after last year’s designations.

Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent claimed in a statement that Iran continues to try to find new ways through front companies like PKGB and third-country suppliers to procure the key components it needs to bolster its drone program.

The designations came two days after OFAC imposed new sanctions on Iran’s oil industry, targeting more than 30 brokers, tanker operators, and shipping companies that it said were involved in the sale and transport of Iranian oil to foreign customers.

The sanction announcements came weeks after US President Donald Trump said he would restore a so-called “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran that was rolled out during his first term in office in 2018 with the aim of cutting Iran’s oil exports to zero.

Iran has dismissed the significance of Washington’s continued efforts to pile pressure on the country through its sanctions.

Authorities say US sanctions have hardly affected Iran’s ability to sell oil or its plans to expand the country’s defense capabilities.