“Iran’s proliferation of UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles] across the region threatens international peace and stability. Iran and its proxy militants have used UAVs to attack U.S. forces, our partners, and international shipping,” said Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo.
The Treasury sanctioned companies and individuals it said supported the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) drone programs and designated Saeed Aghajani who commands the IRGC’s drone force.
The IRGC’s elite Quds Forces “has used and proliferated lethal UAVs for use by Iran-supported groups, including Hizballah, HAMAS, Kata’ib Hizballah, and the Houthis,” stated the Treasury. “Lethal UAVs have been used in attacks on international shipping and on U.S. forces.”
US interests in Iraq and Syria have come under attack or threat of attack by drones at least 12 times in 2021, most recently at al-Tanf base in southern Syria, according to data compiled by Rudaw English. Iraqi militias with the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) backed by Iran are widely blamed. In June, drones were front and centre at a PMF military parade.
Related: Drone wars in Iraq
The militias demand the withdrawal of American troops from Iraq and stepped up their attacks after the US assassinated Iranian General Qasem Soleimani and PMF commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis in Baghdad in January 2020. The US has agreed to pull out its combat troops by the end of the year as it focuses on training and advising Iraqi forces in the fight against the Islamic State group (ISIS).
The new sanctions come as Iran is under pressure to return to delayed nuclear talks. Tehran’s top nuclear negotiator this week said Iran would resume talks with six world powers by the end of November. Negotiations were suspended in June to allow for a transition of power after elections in Iran.
Reporting on the announcement of the sanctions, IRGC-linked Tasnim news said the White House was expected to refrain from introducing new measures as a sign of goodwill.
