US places trade restrictions on seven Iranian entities

 The United States on Tuesday put new trade restrictions on seven Iranian entities for producing drones that Russia has used to attack Ukraine, the US Department of Commerce said.

The firms and other organizations were added to a US export control list for those engaged in activities contrary to US national security and foreign policy interests.

The additions to the Commerce Department's "entities list" were posted in a preliminary filing in the US Federal Register, the government's daily journal, and will be officially published on Wednesday.

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 did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Nearly a year since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, allies have scrambled to gather and deploy air defences to defeat cruise missiles and Iranian-built kamikaze drones that have struck energy infrastructure targets this winter.

In January, Canada announced it would buy a US 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 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.

(Reuters)