U.S. Treasury Issues New Sanctions Over Iran’s Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Sales

The U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has imposed sanctions on over a dozen entities, individuals, and ships for their role in the clandestine sale of Iranian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

Thee sanctions target those who have been financing and facilitating these sales for Iran’s Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics (MODAFL) and are directly supporting Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Sahara Thunder, a front company primarily overseeing MODAFL’s commercial activities, is among the entities being sanctioned. The company has been instrumental in the design, development, manufacture, and sale of thousands of UAVs, many of which have been transferred to Russia and used in its ongoing aggression against Ukraine.

In addition to Sahara Thunder, OFAC is also sanctioning two other companies and a vessel, the Cook Islands-flagged product tanker Chem, involved in the shipment of Iranian commodities for Sepehr Energy Jahan Nama Pars. Just like Sahara Thunder, the company played a significant role in the commercial activities of Iran’s Armed Forces General Staff (AFGS).

UAE-based Safe Seas Ship Management FZE manages and operates the Chem, as well as the Palau-flagged Dancy Dynamic, and the Cook Islands-flagged K M A and Conrad, all of which have been used to ship Iranian commodities.

The move by the U.S., coordinated closely with the United Kingdom and Canada, is part of a broader effort to combat those financing Iran’s destabilizing activities.

“Iran’s Ministry of Defense continues to destabilize the region and world with its support to Russia’s war in Ukraine, unprecedented attack on Israel, and proliferation of UAVs and other dangerous military hardware to terrorist proxies,” said Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson.

The sanctions come as part of the counterterrorism authority in several Executive Orders (E.O.) and specifically target Russia’s harmful foreign activities. They aim to curb the activities of entities such as MODAFL and the IRGC-QF, both of which have been previously designated for their support of multiple terrorist groups.

Sahara Thunder has cooperated with Russia to finance and produce Iranian-designed one-way attack UAVs at a US-sanctioned facility in Russia under a $1.75 billion contract.

The US Treasury also highlighted the key role of Sahara Thunder’s leadership in these activities. Three officials – Kazem Mirzai Kondori, Hossein Bakshayesh, and Hojat Abdulahi Fard – have been designated for their direct or indirect actions on behalf of Sahara Thunder.

The Treasury Department emphasized Sahara Thunder’s global shipping network, which is implicated in the sale and shipment of Iranian commodities on behalf of MODAFL to multiple jurisdictions including China, Russia, and Venezuela.

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