The United States sanctioned on Wednesday five Iranian companies behind supplying equipment for the regime’s weapons of mass-destruction programs, including its missile one.
In addition, five Iranian nationals were sanctioned.
Pishtazan Kavosh Gostar Boshra, LLC (PKGB)—whose CEO, Hamed Dehghan, was also sanctioned on Wednesday—has been accused, along with Ebtekar Sanat Ilya LLC and Hadi Dehghan, of acquiring more than $1 million worth military-grade electronic components for Iranian military contractors.
These include Rastafann Engineering Company, which was sanctioned in October 2017 for providing communications equipment to the regime’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and radar capabilities to Samen al-A’emmeh Industries Group, which oversees Iran’s tactical and cruise missile initiatives.
Green Industries (Hong Kong) Limited, owned or controlled by Dehghan, has been sanctioned for allegedly purchasing military end-use equipment from U.S. suppliers for Iranian entities sanctioned by the United States. The company Shafagh Senobar Yazd Company Limited has allegedly served as a consignee in Iran for Hamed Dehghan’s procurement network.
Asre Sanat Eshragh Company—whose owner and general manager, Seyed Hossein Shariat, was also sanctioned on Wednesday—has allegedly procured large amounts of aluminum alloy products for multiple Iranian entities, including Iran Electronic Industries (IEI) and Iran Aviation Industries Organization (IAIO).
IEI and IAIO were sanctioned by the United States in September 2008 and December 2013, respectively.
Moreover, along with Dehghan and Shariat, Hadi Dehghan, Shaghayegh Akhaei and Mahdi Ebrahimzadeh were also sanctioned by the United States.
Akhaei is the general manager and a member of the board of directors of PKGB. Ebrahimzadeh has allegedly helped Hamed Dehghan with his business procuring electronic components. Hadi Dehghan has assisted in Hamed Dehghan with his operations.
“As the Iranian regime attempts to use complex schemes to hide its efforts to bolster its WMD program, the U.S. government will continue to thwart them at every turn,” said U.S. Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Sigal Mandelker. “We urge governments worldwide to recognize the extraordinary lengths to which the regime in Tehran will go to conceal its behavior, and to ensure that their companies and financial institutions are not facilitating Iran’s proliferation activities.”
