The United States on Tuesday announced sanctions against 10 individuals and entities based in Iran and Venezuela and allegedly involved in arms trade between the two countries.
Targets also included Venezuelan company Empresa Aeronautica Nacional, which is believed to be involved in millions of dollars in drone sales from Iran to Venezuela. According to the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, the sanctions also target three individuals living in Iran who are believed to have been involved in procuring chemicals used in ballistic missiles.
“Iran’s continued delivery of conventional weapons to Caracas is a threat to U.S. interests in the Western Hemisphere, including on the mainland, and the United States will do everything possible to prevent this trade,” the Treasury Department said in a statement.
The sanctions were imposed a day after President Donald Trump threatened to “hustle us out” of Iran if it tried to build up its ballistic missile stockpile or rebuild its nuclear weapons program.
Iran’s military sites and weapons program were damaged by attacks by Israel and the United States earlier this year
Trump also said on Monday, ahead of a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, that he supports Israel attacking Iran in the event of rearmament.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran’s response to any repressive aggression is harsh and regrettable,” Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian posted on X on Tuesday.
President Trump has also taken an aggressive stance against Venezuela recently, targeting suspected drug smuggling, ordering a complete blockade of sanctioned oil tankers in and out of the country, and designating the country’s government a “foreign terrorist organization.”
Earlier this month, the Trump administration announced that the United States had seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela. The seized tanker, which has been under U.S. sanctions for years, was transporting oil from Iran and Venezuela, according to a post by Attorney General Pam Bondi.
And in a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, President Trump also acknowledged an attack on an alleged drug loading facility on Venezuelan territory. CNN reported that the attack was carried out by the CIA earlier this month.
Tuesday’s sanctions follow similar efforts in October and November targeting individuals and entities operating in or involved in Iranian weapons networks.
“The Treasury Department is holding Iran and Venezuela accountable for their aggressive and reckless proliferation of deadly weapons around the world,” John K. Hawley, Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, said in a statement.
“We will continue to take swift action to disenfranchise those who enable Iran’s military-industrial complex to access the U.S. financial system,” he said.
