The United States imposed sanctions today, Tuesday, on four entities and three individuals in Iran and Turkey for their involvement in the purchase of equipment, including European-manufactured drone engines, to support drone and weapons manufacturing programs in Iran. The sanctions list includes the Iranian Research Center for Defense Science and Technology and Amanullah Bidar, a commercial manager and procurement agent at the center, according to the U.S. Treasury Department, along with Farzan Industrial Engineering Company, established by Bidar.
Among those sanctioned is a Turkish citizen named Murad Buki, whom the Treasury accused of facilitating the purchase of a variety of equipment with defense applications, including devices for detecting chemical and biological materials, for the company established by Bidar. The Treasury Department stated that Buki "also tried to supply European-manufactured engines with applications for drones and surface-to-air missiles and send them to Bidar and Farzan." He separately sold over 100 European-manufactured drone engines and accessories valued at more than one million dollars to companies that likely transferred the engines to Iran.
The department confirmed in a statement that the supply network operates on behalf of the Iranian Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics. Brian Nelson, the Treasury's Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, stated: "Iran's proliferation of drones and conventional weapons to its agents, which has been well-documented, undermines regional security and global stability. The United States will continue to expose foreign supply networks in any jurisdiction that supports Iran's military-industrial complex."
The Justice Department stated that a federal court in the District of Columbia unveiled indictments against several defendants, including several individuals targeted by today's sanctions, for their roles in schemes to purchase and export American technology to Iran between 2005 and 2013. The first indictment noted that Bidar and Buki "exported from the United States and transferred via Turkey a device capable of testing the effectiveness and strength of fuel cells and attempted to obtain a biological detection system with applications in weapons of mass destruction research and use." Buki was delivered to the United States from Spain last July and pleaded guilty in December, with a judgment issued against him on Monday, while Bidar remains at large.
The statement also indicated that the defendants in the second indictment "conspired to obtain American technology, including a high-speed camera known for its applications in testing nuclear and ballistic missiles," through their companies.
