US sanctions 'China-based network helping Iran procure drones'

The United States has imposed sanctions on an alleged China-based network, claiming it is helping Iran procure unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV).

The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) imposed the sanctions on Thursday against "a network of five companies and one individual for supporting Iran’s UAV procurement efforts," the Treasury said in a statement.

According to Press TV, it added the network "is responsible for the sale and shipment of thousands of aerospace components, including components that can be used for UAV applications."

In July 2021, The Wall Street Journal reported that the US was planning a sanctions campaign against Iran’s defensive drones and guided missiles program, six months after the administration of President Joe Biden was sworn in.

Citing unnamed US officials, the daily said at the time that the sanctions were aimed at disrupting the development of Iran’s weapons program, which, the Islamic Republic has invariably defined as a purely defensive program that does not pose any threat to any foreign country.

Washington targeted Iran's UAV industry last time in January, imposing sanctions against an Iranian drone manufacturer under the unsubstantiated and disproven pretext that the Islamic Republic had provided Russia with the UAVs to be used by Moscow against Ukraine.

The Islamic Republic has, on repeated occasions, roundly rejected Washington's allegations.

Last December, Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Ashtiani said Ukrainian officials had failed to provide any evidence for their claim that Russia was using Iranian drones in its operation in Ukraine.

A month earlier, Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian had also reacted to the US and other Western countries' allegations, noting that Iran had provided Russia with a limited number of drones, but the delivery had taken place months before the onset of the war in Ukraine.

ME