US Treasury sanctions Iran over drone, missile trade with Venezuela

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The United States on Tuesday announced a new round of sanctions targeting Iran’s military-industrial network, citing Tehran’s role in supplying combat drones to Venezuela and its continued efforts to advance ballistic missile capabilities.

The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said it is sanctioning 10 individuals and entities in Iran and Venezuela, including companies involved in Iran’s unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) exports, missile-related chemical procurement, and firms tied to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to deny "access to assets and resources that sustain their destabilizing activities."

"Treasury is holding Iran and Venezuela accountable for their aggressive and reckless proliferation of deadly weapons around the world," Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence John K. Hurley said. "We will continue to take swift action to deprive those who enable Iran’s military-industrial complex access to the U.S. financial system."

The Treasury said the action builds on previous nonproliferation designations following the September 27 reimposition of United Nations sanctions on Iran. It added that Iran’s UAV and missile programs "threaten U.S. and allied personnel in the Middle East and destabilize commercial shipping in the Red Sea."

It also warned that Iran’s provision of conventional weapons to Venezuela “constitutes a threat to U.S. interests in the Western Hemisphere, including the Homeland," adding that Washington "will use all available measures to prevent this trade."

According to OFAC, Iran has coordinated the transfer of Qods Aviation Industries’ (QAI) Mohajer-series UAVs to Venezuela since 2006, with the drones rebranded locally as ANSU-series aircraft. QAI was designated by the US in 2023 for being owned or controlled by Iran’s Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics.

Meanwhile, Venezuela-based Empresa Aeronautica Nacional SA (EANSA) was sanctioned for maintaining and assembling Iranian-designed UAVs in Venezuela and for negotiating directly with QAI. The Treasury said EANSA contributed to the sale of "millions of dollars" worth of Mohajer-6 UAVs to Venezuela.

In a separate set of designations, OFAC targeted Iran-based individuals accused of procuring chemicals used in ballistic missile production for Parchin Chemical Industries (PCI), an element of Iran’s Defense Industries Organization, with both have been under US and UN sanctions for years.

According to the statement, the sanctions also extend to Iranian entities and individuals linked to Rayan Fan Kav Andish Co, a sanctioned defense company whose subsidiaries have produced components and software for the IRGC’s UAV and aerospace programs.

"The ultimate goal of sanctions is not to punish, but to bring about a positive change in behavior," the Treasury said, warning that sanctions violations could result in civil or criminal penalties and that foreign financial institutions may face secondary sanctions for facilitating transactions with the designated parties.

Iran’s ballistic missile and drone programs have long drawn criticism from Western powers, which accuse Tehran of supplying weapons to Russia for use in the war in Ukraine - an allegation Iran has repeatedly denied.

Pressure on Tehran from the United States and European countries has intensified in recent months amid broader regional tensions, particularly following the 12-day conflict between Israel and Iran in June. The fighting ended after the United States carried out strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities and later helped broker a ceasefire.

Before the conflict, Iran and the United States had held five rounds of indirect nuclear talks mediated by Oman. Those discussions followed Washington’s 2018 withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal and have since stalled amid escalating military and diplomatic confrontation.