The Donald Trump administration on Tuesday announced sanctions against Iran and Venezuela, targeting companies involved in the production and sale of drones. The measures affect 10 legal entities and individuals across the two countries. Among those designated is Venezuela-based Empresa Aeronautica Nacional SA, which, according to the US Treasury Department, oversees the assembly of unmanned aerial vehicles in cooperation with Iran’s Qods Aviation Industries.
At the same time, sanctions were imposed on three Iranian nationals linked to efforts to procure chemical substances for ballistic missiles, as well as on two companies and three individuals in Iran connected to the country’s UAV program and aerospace developments.
“Today’s actions underscore the importance of restoring sanctions and other restrictions on Iran in line with United Nations Security Council resolutions,” State Department spokesperson Tommy Piggott said. According to him, “the entities and individuals designated today demonstrate that Iran is actively proliferating its combat drones and continues to procure missile-related components in violation of UN restrictions.”
The new sanctions were announced amid intensified pressure from Washington on Venezuela. Earlier, President Trump imposed restrictions on the embattled President Nicolás Maduro and ordered military strikes on a facility he described as a “dock” used by vessels allegedly involved in drug trafficking.
On Monday, Trump also threatened to strike Iran if the country’s leadership pursued the development of nuclear weapons. “I’m hearing now that Iran is once again trying to build up its capabilities, and if that’s the case, we’ll have to stop them. We will stop them. We will hit them very hard. But hopefully, that’s not happening,” he said during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.