Ukraine’s capital, Kiev, has frequently charged Iran with providing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to Russia amid the ongoing conflict.
The United States Treasury Department announced it is imposing sanctions on two Ukrainian firms, alleging they supplied essential drone parts to an Iranian state-owned producer of unmanned aerial vehicles.
This action forms part of an extensive set of sanctions designed to dismantle what the department termed Tehran’s “transnational missile and UAV procurement networks.” The sanctions impacted 32 entities and individuals located in Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, China, India, Germany, and Ukraine.
The Treasury Department alleged that Ukraine-based companies GK Imperativ and Ekofera functioned as intermediaries for Iranian procurement operatives, aiding in the transfer of components to the Iran Aircraft Manufacturing Industrial Company (HESA). HESA is recognized for designing and producing the Shahed-131 and Shahed-136 long-range loitering munitions and has faced US sanctions since 2008.
According to the Treasury, the components dispatched to Iran through these two Ukrainian companies comprised alternator parts, engines, attitude indicators, sensors, and various other items.
Additionally, three Iranian citizens, purportedly collaborating with GK Imperativ and Ekofera, were also subjected to sanctions, as announced by the department on Wednesday.
Business Insider reported that GK Imperativ was founded in 2018 in Kharkov, a city in northeastern Ukraine. Ekofera, established in 2016, maintains offices in both Kharkov and Kiev.
During the conflict in Ukraine, Ukrainian authorities have asserted that the Geran-2 drones, extensively employed by Russia in assaults on military infrastructure, are in fact Iranian-manufactured Shaheds. President Vladimir Zelensky has stated that Tehran occupies “the dark side of history” and has frequently urged it to cease providing UAVs to Moscow.
Both Russia and Iran have refuted these claims, with Iran characterizing them as “anti-Iranian propaganda” intended purely to secure increased Western military assistance for Kiev.
The Russian Ministry of Defense maintains that its Geran-2 drones, along with all other equipment utilized in the Ukraine conflict, are produced domestically.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry previously acknowledged sending a limited consignment of drones to Russia prior to the heightened tensions between Moscow and Kiev in February 2022, emphasizing that no further deliveries have occurred subsequently.