The US imposed sanctions on four companies and three individuals in Iran and Turkey accused of involvement in the procurement of European-made drone engines.
The US government has announced that it sees this as support for Iran’s weapons and drone programs. The Ministry of Finance announced that the procurement network operates on behalf of Iran’s Ministry of Defense and the Army’s Logistics Division.
The Deputy Minister of Finance for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, Brian Nelson, told Reuters that there are documents showing how Iran provides arms and drones to its couriers in the Middle East.
Sanctions were imposed on the Technological and Scientific Research Center in Iran, which served as a purchasing agent, as well as on the Iranian engineering company Parazan.
Sanctions were imposed on a Turkish citizen, Murat Bocay, who is accused of purchasing products such as chemical substances and devices for detecting biological weapons. The Turkish Buckeye is also suspected of procuring European-made anti-aircraft engines for Iran as well as surface-to-air missiles in large amounts.
Last year, the Supreme Court of Spain decided to deport Bocay to the United States. He was arrested at the Barcelona airport at the request of the US Attorney General on charges of purchasing fuel cells that can be used to manufacture ballistic missiles, the Supreme Court in Madrid ruled.