The Government of the United States communicated this Tuesday a new round of economic sanctions aimed at various individuals and companies that it accuses of facilitating the purchase of weapons and technology for the Ministry of Defense of Iran, within Washington's financial strategy to try to contain the ballistic programs developed by Tehran.
These measures, coordinated between the Department of State and the Department of the Treasury, aim to cut the supply chains of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard and punish the involvement of actors from third countries. In this context, the Department of State has added the Iranian airline Saha Airlines, dependent on the Islamic Republic Air Force, to its blacklist, as well as two Russian companies: the aircraft manufacturer Yakovlev and the shipping company MG-Flot, previously known as TransMorFlot.
According to the documentation from the Department of State, the sanction against Yakovlev is justified by the delivery to Iran of about 24 advanced training aircraft Yak-130 between the end of 2023 and December 2025. In parallel, Washington attributes to the Russian shipping company MG-Flot the use of its vessels to transport Iranian-made short-range ballistic missiles to Russian territory in 2024 and, additionally, air defense systems by the end of 2025.
At the same time, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the Treasury has issued restrictions against a network formed by five individuals and five companies responsible for supplying materials to the Ministry of Defense of Iran. Among those named is Asghar Alizadeh Tabatabai, representative of the Iranian Defense portfolio in Beijing, accused of coordinating the purchase of "complete weapon systems and dual-use components" in China, and Parisa Lali, representative in Iran of the firm Kavoshcom, specialized in electronic components.
The list of sanctioned individuals by the OFAC also includes Alí Fotowat Almady, CEO of Kavoshcom and considered a facilitator of the Iranian Aerospace Industries Organization, described by the Treasury as "responsible for the Iranian ballistic missile program"; Chinese citizen Li Fen and her company EC Mojo, based in Hong Kong; and businessman Wasim Pasha Tajamal, president of Cavalier Group. This conglomerate, with operations in Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey, has seen how several of its international subsidiaries have also been incorporated into the U.S. sanctions regime.
In a statement, State Department spokesperson Thomas Pigott emphasized that President Donald Trump "has been clear" in stating that Iran "must never obtain a nuclear weapon." U.S. authorities have criticized Russia and China's veto in the UN Security Council regarding the extension of these sanctions to the international level, and have offered a reward of up to 15 million dollars through their 'Rewards for Justice' program for information that contributes to dismantling the financial structures of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.