“Today’s action is a part of President [Donald] Trump’s maximum pressure campaign on the Iranian regime, to disrupt efforts by the U.S.-sanctioned Iran-based Qods Aviation Industries to procure equipment for Iran’s military-industrial complex and UAV program,” State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said in a statement.
The sanctioned entities and individuals are based in Iran, the United Arab Emirates, and China, according to the statement.
“Iran uses this technology and the proceeds from arms sales to bolster its military industrial base to build missiles and UAVs, which are used against fellow countries, as well as exported to Russia, terrorist proxy groups around the Middle East, and to other actors of concern,” the statement added.
After returning to the White House in February, Trump in early February restored his “maximum pressure” policy against Tehran, arguing that it is “too close” to a nuclear weapon. He also expressed openness to negotiate a new deal with Tehran, though Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei deemed negotiations “unwise.”
Under a 2015 nuclear deal - formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) - with world powers, Iran agreed to curb its nuclear enrichment program in exchange for much-needed relief from crippling sanctions.
But the deal began unraveling in 2018 when Trump, during his first term, unilaterally withdrew the US from the accord and reimposed biting sanctions on Iran.
Tehran adhered to the deal for a year before gradually ramping up its nuclear activities afterward.
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