The United States of America announced on Tuesday that it would impose sanctions on a group of individuals as well as businesses from China, Hong Kong, Iran, and alleged links to the development of Iran's ballistic missile program.
According to the Treasury Department, the seven individuals and six businesses in the network "facilitated the procurement of sensitive and critical parts and technology for key actors in Iran's ballistic missile development," which included the Iranian defense ministry and its affiliated firms, reported news agency AP.
Zhejiang Qingji, based in China, is one of the targets of the sanctions. It is said to have sold centrifuges and other materials to an Iran-based company that is affiliated with the country's defense ministry.
Several executives at Qingji and the Hong Kong-based Lingoe Process Engineering Limited, which Treasury claims served as the Chinese company's front, were also designated for sanctions.
Davoud Damghani, Iran's Defense Attaché in Beijing, is also mentioned, and he is said to have coordinated purchases from China for Iran's end users.
The sanctions, among other things, prevent U.S. companies and citizens from doing business with them and deny them access to any property or financial assets held in the United States.
Iran recently claimed that it had developed a hypersonic missile that could travel at 15 times the speed of sound, adding a new weapon to its arsenal as tensions with the United States over Tehran's nuclear program remain high. This brings about the most recent round of financial sanctions.
Due to months of anti-government protests in Iran and Western outrage over Iran's export of attack drones to Russian forces fighting in Ukraine, tensions between the United States and Iran are also high.
The United States "will continue to target illicit transnational procurement networks that covertly support Iran's ballistic missile production and other military programmes," according to Brian E. Nelson, Treasury's undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence.
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