U.S. Sanctions Those Who Helped Russia Get Iranian Drones

Washington/16.11.22/Turan: The Biden Administration on Tuesday unveiled additional sanctions on the entities involved in the production and transfer of Iranian drones to Russia, TURAN's Washington correspondent reports.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced the sanctions, saying Iranian UAVs are being used by Moscow to "strike civilian infrastructure and cities.”

The latest sanctions target several aviation related companies and two individuals – Abbas Djuma and Tigran Khristoforovich Srabionov – who facilitated the Russian mercenary Wagner Group’s “acquisition of UAVs from Iran,” according to the Treasury Department.

The sanctions also target Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Aerospace Force, Qods Aviation Industries, and Shahed Aviation Industries Research Center, among others.

“As we have demonstrated repeatedly, the United States is determined to sanction people and companies, no matter where they are located, that support Russia’s unjustified invasion of Ukraine,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said.

The IRGC Aerospace Force “likely helped facilitate Iran’s supply of military UAVs to Russia,” while Qods provides the Mohajer-6 and Shahed Aviation produces the Shahid-series UAV variants, including the Shahed-136, which has been documented in Ukraine, Blinken added in his statement.

The move comes after Iranian officials earlier this month acknowledged that they had transferred drones to Moscow.

Alex Raufoglu
Washington D.C.