The Obama administration on Thursday sanctioned additional companies and people for aiding Iran’s ballistic missile program.
Tehran has tested the program three times recently in violation of a United Nations resolution.
The Treasury Department designation comes shortly after the U.S. took the matter to the U.N., which apparently does not have authority to punish Tehran for the provocations.
Some were added to the list for its support of Iranian airline Mahan Air, which the U.S. in 2011 charged provides “financial, material and technological support” to the Revolutionary Guard’s Quds force, which the United States officially named a terrorism sponsor in 2007.
“For example, these intermediaries may use false invoices to obtain aircraft maintenance services for Mahan Air that have facilitated Mahan Air’s efforts to circumvent sanctions,” the Treasury Department stated.
New to the list are Iranian-based Shahid Hemmat Industrial Group, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Al-Ghadir Missile Command, which carried out the tests; two U.K.-based businessmen: Jeffrey John James Ashfield and John Edward Meadows; two U.K.-based firms: Aviation Capital Solutions and Aircraft, Avionics, Parts & Support Ltd.; and two financial firms based in the United Arab Emirates: Grandeur General Trading and HSI Trading.
“Iran’s ballistic missile program and its support for terrorism pose a continuing threat to the region, to the United States, and to our partners worldwide,” stated Adam Szubin, acting under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence.
The Treasury Department underscored that the nuclear deal Iran struck with six world powers last summer did not lift the prohibition on such tests or sanctions against those deemed responsible for or as assisting the missile program.
