Chinese and North Korean companies were hit with U.S. sanctions this week in response to their support for Iran’s ballistic missile program, the State Department announced Friday.
“Iran’s proliferation of missile technology significantly contributes to regional tensions,” the State Department explained Friday. “As an example, we have seen indications Iran is providing missile support to the Houthis in Yemen. This destabilizing activity only serves to escalate regional conflicts further and poses a significant threat to regional security.”
The sanctions package, implemented on March 21, applies to “30 foreign entities and individuals in 10 countries,” but just 11 of those entities were sanctioned specifically for their involvement with Iran’s missile program. Ten of the 11 companies are Chinese or North Korean, while the remaining company is based in the United Arab Emirates. The punishment of foreign entities follows on sanctions imposed on 25 entities within Iran last month.
The sanctions would prevent those companies from contracting with the U.S. government for goods, services or technology, ban them from all U.S. assistance programs, and prohibit trade in defense goods.
The State Department’s move comes as Congress is considering its own sanctions against Iran’s effort to develop its ballistic missile programs.
House Republican and Democratic leaders introduced legislation mandating that the executive branch report on the international “supply chain” that facilitates Iran’s program and impose sanctions on those entitities.
“It shuts Iranian and foreign companies involved in Iran’s missile program – and the banks that back them – out of the financial system,” House Foreign Affairs Chairman Ed Royce, R-Calif., said Thursday. “And it will penalize those who trade conventional weapons with Iran in violation of international restrictions. These important steps are critical to countering Iran’s missile program, which poses a growing threat to our national security.”
“More, however, must be done,” Royce said. “These important steps are critical to countering Iran’s missile program, which poses a growing threat to our national security.”
