US sanctions 14 for helping Iran obtain weapons supplies

Treasury hit 14 people, companies and aircraft on Tuesday in its latest move against an Iranian procurement network it said helped move weapons and weapons components through Iran, Türkiye and the United Arab Emirates. The action reached actors tied to Mahan Air, and included Dubai-based Chabok FZCO, which U.S. officials accused of procuring sensors and other U.S.-origin aircraft parts for the airline.

The sanctions freeze any U.S.-based assets the targets may have and generally bar U.S. persons from doing business with them. In practice, that matters because it forces banks, shippers and brokers to treat the network as toxic, making it harder to move money, source parts and keep aircraft and cargo moving on Iran’s behalf.

Treasury said the designations were the fifth round of nonproliferation actions supporting the Sept. 27, 2025 reimposition of United Nations sanctions on Iran. They were issued under National Security Presidential Memorandum 2 and Executive Orders 13382 and 13224, with the stated aim of helping the United States keep draining Iran’s ballistic missile inventories and prevent the rebuilding of production capacity after recent U.S. and Israeli strikes. The department also said Iran has increasingly relied on Shahed-series one-way attack drones, a sign that procurement pressure is now aimed at both missile hardware and the drone supply line.

Scott Bessent said Iran must be held accountable for targeting civilians with missiles and drones and for what he described as extortion of global energy markets. The timing carried its own message: Washington and Tehran remained at an impasse over talks, while the Strait of Hormuz and the wider conflict stayed under strain. The sanctions were meant not only to disrupt procurement, but also to signal that the United States is prepared to keep using economic pressure while diplomacy stalls.

The latest action fit a pattern that has sharpened over the past year. Treasury targeted 21 entities and 17 individuals on Oct. 1, 2025, then 32 individuals and entities on Nov. 12, 2025, in actions tied to Iran’s missile and unmanned aircraft production efforts. Taken together, the repeated designations show how Washington is trying to hit the logisticians, brokers and shell companies that keep Iran’s military supply chain alive, even as those networks adapt by shifting routes, jurisdictions and intermediaries.