The US sanctioned more than a dozen people and firms in China, Hong Kong, and Iran on Tuesday, including Iran’s defence attache in Beijing, over allegations of assisting key actors in Iran’s ballistic missile programme with the acquisition of parts and technology.
Earlier on Tuesday, the IRNA news agency claimed that Iran had displayed its first domestically manufactured hypersonic ballistic missile. This is expected to amplify Western concerns over Iran’s missile capabilities.
Overview
In a statement, the department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) accused the individuals and entities of conducting financial transactions to aid the network’s acquisition of missile development parts.
According to the Treasury Department, seven individuals and six organisations “facilitated procurement of sensitive and critical parts and technology for key actors in Iran’s ballistic missile development,” including Iran’s Defence Ministry and its affiliated firms.
The US has imposed sanctions on Chinese, Hong Kong and Iranian firms over their links to Tehran's missile programmeshttps://t.co/iLSKzHDg9o
— The New Arab (@The_NewArab) June 6, 2023
Among the sanctioned entities is the Chinese firm Zhejiang Qingji, accused of selling centrifuges and other supplies to an Iranian firm linked with the country’s defence ministry. Several executives at Qingji and the Hong Kong-based Lingoe Process Engineering Limited, which the Treasury said operated as a front business for the Chinese firm, were also sanctioned.
The Treasury statement accused Davoud Damghani, Iran’s defence attache in Beijing, of arranging military-related Chinese procurements for Iranian end-users, including subsidiaries of Iran’s Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces Logistics (MODAFL). The same accusation is issued against the Chinese-based Beijing Shiny Nights Technology Development Company.
According to the statement, Washington targeted centrifuge sales to Parchin Chemical Industries (PCI), dual-use metals sales to its intermediary, P.B. Sadr, and MODAFL’s electronics purchase in Tuesday’s move. Both PCI and P.B. Sadr have already been sanctioned by the US.
The Treasury Department also alleged that two more firms, Hong Kong Ke.Do International Trade and the China-based Qingdao Zhongrongtong Trade Development coordinated to sell tens of millions of dollars’ worth of metals to develop the Iranian missile system.
Brian Nelson, the Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, stated, “the United States will continue to target illicit transnational procurement networks that covertly support Iran’s ballistic missile production and other military programmes.”
Further, US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said that Iran’s development and proliferation of these missiles poses “a serious threat to regional and international security.”
The US has accused various Chinese companies of facilitating the transfer of centrifuges and other military-use materials to the Iranian government involved in missile developmenthttps://t.co/DvfLSaXUY0
— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) June 7, 2023
Impact of Sanctions
The sanctions prohibit individuals and entities from accessing any property or financial assets held in the US and forbid American businesses and citizens from doing business with them.
In addition, enterprises, which are 50 percent or more, directly or indirectly, owned by one or more blocked people are also blocked. All transactions involving blocked or designated people’s property or interests in property conducted by US persons or within the US (including transactions transiting the US) are forbidden.
The Treasury warned that any foreign financial institution that knowingly facilitates a substantial transaction or provides significant financial services to any of the people or companies listed under EO 13382 might face US sanctions.
Washington has imposed substantial sanctions on Iran over the years, including restrictions related to its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes and allegations of human rights violations.
Tensions between the US and Iran are also high, following months of anti-government protests in Iran and Western outrage over Iran’s supply of attack drones to Russian forces fighting in Ukraine.