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- US sanctions Iran's drone program over supplies to Hezbollah, Hamas, Houthis
US sanctions Iran's drone program over supplies to Hezbollah, Hamas, Houthis
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' UAVs 'have been used to attack US forces and international shipping'
The US Treasury hit Iran's drone program with sanctions on Friday, boosting pressure on Tehran ahead of the reopening of negotiations on the country's nuclear program.
The Treasury said lethal unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) from Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps have been used to attack US forces and international shipping in the Gulf region.
The drones have also been supplied to Hezbollah, Hamas, and Yemen's Houthis, and have also been seen in Ethiopia, "where the escalating crisis threatens to destabilize the broader region," the Treasury said.
The sanctions singled out Brig. Gen. Saeed Aghajani, who leads the Revolutionary Guards' UAV Command.
The Treasury said that Aghajani was behind a 2019 drone attack on an oil refinery in Saudi Arabia as well as the July 29, 2021 attack on a commercial ship off the coast of Oman that saw two crewmen killed.
Also named to the sanctions blacklist were two companies, Kimia Part Sivan and Oje Parvaz Mado Nafar, which provide components for and helped develop the Revolutionary Guards' armed UAVs.
“Iran’s proliferation of UAVs across the region threatens international peace and stability," Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo said in a statement.
The sanctions came nine days after an attack on a US military base in Al-Tanf, Syria that involved drones.