The US Treasury on Friday announced sanctions against 10 individuals and companies — based in China, Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates and Belarus — accused of helping Iran secure weapons and the raw materials needed to build Shahed drones and ballistic missiles.
The action, first reported by Reuters, comes days before US President Donald Trump is expected to travel to China for a meeting with President Xi Jinping, and as efforts to wind down the war with Iran have stalled. Treasury said it remained ready to take further economic action against Iran’s military industrial base to prevent Tehran from reconstituting its production capacity, and would consider secondary sanctions on foreign financial institutions — including those linked to China’s independent “teapot” oil refineries — that aid Iran’s procurement.
Brett Erickson, managing principal at Obsidian Risk Advisors, told Reuters the action was aimed at curbing Iran’s ability to threaten ships in the Strait of Hormuz and regional allies, but that the designations were still narrowly focused — leaving Iran time to adapt and reroute procurement, and stopping short of sanctioning Chinese banks that continue to underpin its economy.
The named entities include Yushita Shanghai International Trade Co Ltd, accused of facilitating weapons purchases from China; Dubai-based Elite Energy FZCO, accused of transferring millions of dollars to a Hong Kong company to support procurement; Hong Kong-based HK Hesin Industry Co Ltd and Belarus-based Armory Alliance LLC, accused of acting as intermediaries; Hong Kong-based Mustad Ltd, accused of facilitating procurement for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps; Iran-based Pishgam Electronic Safeh Co, accused of procuring drone motors; and China-based Hitex Insulation Ningbo Co Ltd, accused of supplying ballistic-missile materials.
Iran shut the Strait of Hormuz — through which roughly a fifth of the world’s crude oil and LNG passes — after the US and Israel attacked targets in Iran on February 28. Shipping through the chokepoint has slowed sharply since the war began, sending energy prices higher and disrupting fuel imports for South Asian economies including Sri Lanka. The British-funded Centre for Information Resilience estimates Iran can produce around 10,000 drones a month at industrial capacity.
Iran has called the wider US sanctions campaign a “reckless military adventure” in recent weeks. The latest action sits alongside the trade-policy track under which President Trump has threatened secondary tariffs on countries supplying Iran’s weapons sector.
