US imposes new sanctions against Iranian officials involved in production and supply of drones to Russia

This was reported by the US State Department.

The United States imposed sanctions against senior officials of Qods Aviation Industries (QAI), an Iranian defense equipment manufacturer responsible for the development and production of unmanned aerial vehicles, as well as the Aerospace Industries Organization of Iran (AIO), the main organization responsible for overseeing Iran's ballistic missile development programs.

According to the State Department, the sanctions were imposed on legal entities involved in the production and transfer of Iranian Shahed and Mohajer series UAVs, "which Moscow continues to use in its brutal attacks against Ukraine, including its critical infrastructure".

The US government stressed that the Iranian regime's military support of Russia not only fuels the conflict in Ukraine, but also violates the Security Council resolution by providing military UAVs without prior separate approval of the UN Security Council.

"Iran must cease its support for Russia’s unprovoked war of aggression in Ukraine, and we will continue to use every tool at our disposal to disrupt and delay these transfers and impose costs on actors engaged in this activity," the statement said.

The names of the sanctioned persons were published in the official report of the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the US Treasury Department. Among them are the chairman of the board of directors of QAI, who was responsible for negotiations on the agreement between Iran and Russia on the supply of drones, the managing director of QAI, members of the Board of Directors of QAI.