OFAC / Iran Missile Actors Sanctioned

Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) imposed sanctions on a network encompassing seven individuals and six entities across Iran, China, and Hong Kong, citing links to Iran's ballistic missile program.

The June 6 action accused the network of facilitating procurement and financial transactions for critical components and technology required for Iran's ballistic missile development.

The key players in Iran's ballistic missile development, including Iran’s Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics (MODAFL), Parchin Chemicals Industries (PCI), Aerospace Industries Organization (AIO), Iran Electronics Industries (IEI), and P.B. Sadr are believed to have benefited from this network. OFAC has also targeted Iran’s Defense Attaché in Beijing for coordinating military-related procurements.

“This action underscores our resolve to address activities that compromise regional stability and threaten the security of our key partners and allies,” said Brian E. Nelson, Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence. "We will persist in targeting illicit transnational procurement networks that surreptitiously bolster Iran’s ballistic missile production and other military programs."

This move follows OFAC's March 30, 2022 designation of P.B. Sadr and other Iran-based entities in support of Iran’s ballistic missile program. The sanctions are enacted under Executive Order (E.O.) 13382, aimed at weapon proliferators and their supporters.

The investigation revealed that Zhejiang Qingji, a company based in China's Zhejiang Province, sold centrifuges worth hundreds of thousands of dollars to PCI via P.B. Sadr. These centrifuges are believed to be used for producing nitrocellulose, a crucial ingredient for propellants and combustible components.

Hong Kong-based Lingoe Process Engineering Limited served as a front company for Zhejiang Qingji in its business dealings with PCI and P.B. Sadr, while Iran-based Blue Calm Marine Services Company assisted with the shipments.

In addition, two companies, Hong Kong Ke.Do International Trade Co. and Qingdao Zhongrongtong Trade Development Co., engaged in the sale of tens of millions of dollars’ worth of dual-use metals to P.B. Sadr.

Beijing-based Beijing Shiny Nights Technology Development Co., purportedly operating as a MODAFL front, procured electronics for Iranian end-users, including modules with radar applications and likely accelerometers and gyroscopes for Iranian defense and missile end-users.

Each of the entities and individuals implicated in these activities have been designated under E.O. 13382, which targets weapons of mass destruction proliferators and their supporters. This includes the Iran Defense Attaché in Beijing, Davoud Damghani, for coordinating these procurements for MODAFL subsidiaries.