The Trump administration announced on Thursday that it has sanctioned an Iranian entity and its director over alleged chemical-weapons research.
The Shahid Meisami Group and its director, Mehran Babri, were sanctioned for allegedly being involved in Iran’s chemical-weapons research. The entity is subordinate to the Iranian Organization of Defensive Innovation and Research, also known as SPND, according to the U.S. Treasury Department.
The United States designated SPND in 2014 for allegedly being connected to Iran’s proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) or their means of delivery.
Shahid Meisami Group has been responsible for numerous SPND projects, the cost of which totaled millions of dollars. These projects include testing and producing chemical agents, and optimizing them for effectiveness and toxicity for use as incapacitation agents, according to the Treasury Department.
The United States has long expressed concerns that Iran maintains an undeclared chemical-weapons program.
