The United States has sanctioned six Chinese companies for allegedly assisting in the development of Iran’s “weapons of mass destruction” and drone programs, as well as aiding the modernization of the People’s Liberation Army of China.
Two companies based in Hong Kong and Shenzhen were added to the list for attempting to avoid providing information about the end users of their products and components.
The U.S. Department of Commerce stated in its announcement that these two companies were engaged in transactions with an Iranian procurement company.
This Hong Kong-registered company was previously on the list of “unverified” entities, which includes companies that U.S. export control officials cannot inspect or verify.
Three other companies were added to the sanctions list for allegedly attempting or succeeding in providing U.S. components for Iran’s drone and weapons of mass destruction development programs.
The list announced by the U.S. Department of Commerce on Monday, October 21, contained 26 companies, including 16 Pakistani companies, three companies registered in the United Arab Emirates, and one Egyptian company.
Four companies from the UAE and Egypt were added to the list for allegedly cooperating with Russia in the Ukraine war.
The U.S. Department of Commerce said that these 26 companies have violated U.S. export regulations, participated in the weapon programs of banned countries, or circumvented U.S. sanctions against Iran and Russia.
The inclusion of these companies on the sanctions list will block their access to U.S. technologies and products unless they receive a special license from the U.S. government—a license that is extremely difficult and unlikely to obtain.
Under Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Security Alan F. Estevez: “Our actions today send a message to malicious actors that if they violate our controls, they will pay a price.”
