The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned four entities associated with OFAC-designated Rayan Roshd Afzar Company (RRA) that have supplied significant material for Iran’s UAV program. Additionally, OFAC has sanctioned an Iranian executive, Afshin Khajeh Fard, of the Iran Aviation Industries Organization (IAIO), a subsidiary of Iran’s Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics (MODAFL) that operates UAV manufacturers Qods Aviation Industries (QAI) and Iran Aircraft Manufacturing Industrial Company (HESA).
“Today’s action reinforces our commitment to disrupt Iran’s production and proliferation of deadly UAVs that continue to be used by Russia against Ukraine and by regional terrorist proxies against our troops,” said Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson. “Treasury will continue to impose costs on those who seek to procure the components Iran needs for its UAV programs and enable the shipment of these weapons to destabilizing actors around the world.”
Fard, an Iranian national, holds the role of overseeing IAIO’s capacity to produce missiles and UAVs, and he has improved Iran’s reduced reliance on foreign suppliers.
These designations are pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13382, which targets proliferators of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and their means of procurement.
According to the US Treasury Department’s website, RRA has produced technical components for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ UAV program, while IAIO was targeted for “engaging in activities that materially contribute to the supply, sale, or transfer, directly or indirectly, to or from Iran, or for the use in or benefit of Iran, of arms or related material, including spare parts.”
The entities that have been added to the OFAC’s Specially Designated Nationals List (SDN) are Fanavarihaye Hava Pishran Sazeh Sepehr Company, Kish Mechatronics Company, Mersad Mohajer Company, and Rayan Fan Kav Andish Company.
