By Karen Freifeld and Mike Stone
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Tuesday put new trade restrictions on seven Iranian entities for producing drones that Russia has used to attack Ukraine, the U.S. Department of Commerce said.
The firms and other organizations were added to a U.S. export control list for those engaged in activities contrary to U.S. national security and foreign policy interests.
The additions to the Commerce Department's "entities list" were posted in a preliminary filing in the U.S. Federal Register, the government's daily journal, and will be officially published on Wednesday.
Since Russia launched its war against Ukraine in February 2022, the United States and over 30 other countries have sought to degrade its military and defense industrial base by using export controls to restrict its access to technology.
The Iranian entities are Design and Manufacturing of Aircraft Engines, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Aerospace Force, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Research and Self-Sufficiency Jihad Organization, Oje Parvaz Mado Nafar Company, Paravar Pars Company, Qods Aviation Industry, and Shahed Aviation Industries.
Any suppliers to the entities are required to have licenses to ship goods and technology, but these are expected to be denied, apart from those for food and medicine. The licenses will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.
Iran's mission to the United Nations in New York said: "Sanctions have no effect on Iran's drone production capacity because its drones are all produced domestically. This is a strong indication that the drones shot down in Ukraine and using parts made by Western countries don't belong to Iran."
In January, Canada announced it would buy a U.S.-made National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS) for Ukraine. NASAMS is a short- to medium-range ground-based air defense system that protects against drone, missile and aircraft attack. The United States has provided two NASAMS to Ukraine and more are on the way.
Other ground-based air defense systems such as Raytheon (NYSE:RTN) Technology Corp's Patriot have been pledged by the United Kingdom, the United States and the Netherlands as allies hope to stave off further power disruptions.