US Adds 8 New Iranian Officials to its Drone Sanctions List

US sanctions eight new Iranian officials (Reuters)
US sanctions eight new Iranian officials (Reuters)
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US Adds 8 New Iranian Officials to its Drone Sanctions List

US sanctions eight new Iranian officials (Reuters)
US sanctions eight new Iranian officials (Reuters)

The United States imposed sanctions on eight Iranian executives' of Paravar Pars Company (Paravar Pars), an Iran-based firm for manufacturing Shahed-series unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Aerospace Force (IRGC ASF).

This US measure follows other decisions announced by the US Treasury on November 15, 2022, September 8, 2022, and January 6, 2023, against individuals and entities associated with the Iranian drone program.

US State Secretary Antony Blinken said Russia had used Iranian UAVs against Ukrainian civilians and infrastructure, warning that Tehran's continued supply to Russia violated UN Security Council Resolution 2231, which prohibits Iran's military UAVs to Russia without advance, case-by-case approval of the UN Security Council.

"The United States will continue to use every tool at our disposal to disrupt and delay these transfers and impose costs on actors engaged in this activity," he said.

The Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) stated that Iranian entities continue to produce UAVs for Iran's IRGC and military, adding that Tehran is supplying UAVs for Russia's combat operations to target critical infrastructure in Ukraine.

"The United States will continue to aggressively target all elements of Iran's UAV program."

OFAC explained that Paravar Pars has manufactured and tested UAVs for the IRGC ASF and IRGC Navy. The firm specifically played a role in the research, development, and production of the Shahed-171 UAV.

The sanctions targeted Hossein Shamsabadi, Paravar Pars' Managing Director, CEO, and a member of the firm's Board of Directors, Ali Reza Tangsiri, the Chairman of the Board for Paravar Pars and commander of IRGC Navy, Abulfazl Nazeri, Mohsen Asadi, Mohammed Sadegh Mousa, Abulfazl Salehnejad, and Mohammed Mohammadi.

The list included forward base ship IRIS MAKRAN and naval frigate IRIS DENA.



Israeli Ultra-Orthodox Party Leaves Government over Conscription Bill

 Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, surrounded by ministers from the government attends a session of the Knesset, Israel's parliament, in Jerusalem, Monday, July 14, 2025. (AP)
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, surrounded by ministers from the government attends a session of the Knesset, Israel's parliament, in Jerusalem, Monday, July 14, 2025. (AP)
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Israeli Ultra-Orthodox Party Leaves Government over Conscription Bill

 Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, surrounded by ministers from the government attends a session of the Knesset, Israel's parliament, in Jerusalem, Monday, July 14, 2025. (AP)
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, surrounded by ministers from the government attends a session of the Knesset, Israel's parliament, in Jerusalem, Monday, July 14, 2025. (AP)

One of Israel's ultra-Orthodox parties, United Torah Judaism, said it was quitting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's ruling coalition due to a long-running dispute over failure to draft a bill to exempt yeshiva students from military service.

Six of the remaining seven members of UTJ, which is comprised of the Degel Hatorah and Agudat Yisrael factions, wrote letters of resignation. Yitzhak Goldknopf, chairman of UTJ, had resigned a month ago.

That would leave Netanyahu with a razor thin majority of 61 seats in the 120 seat Knesset, or parliament.

It was not clear whether Shas, another ultra-Orthodox party, would follow suit.

Degel Hatorah said in a statement that after conferring with its head rabbis, "and following repeated violations by the government to its commitments to ensure the status of holy yeshiva students who diligently engage in their studies ... (its MKs) have announced their resignation from the coalition and the government."

Ultra-Orthodox parties have argued that a bill to exempt yeshiva students was a key promise in their agreement to join the coalition in late 2022.

A spokesperson for Goldknopf confirmed that in all, seven UTJ Knesset members are leaving the government.

Ultra-Orthodox lawmakers have long threatened to leave the coalition over the conscription bill.

Some religious parties in Netanyahu's coalition are seeking exemptions for ultra-Orthodox Jewish seminary students from military service that is mandatory in Israel, while other lawmakers want to scrap any such exemptions altogether.

The ultra-Orthodox have long been exempt from military service, which applies to most other young Israelis, but last year the Supreme Court ordered the defense ministry to end that practice and start conscripting seminary students.

Netanyahu had been pushing hard to resolve a deadlock in his coalition over a new military conscription bill, which has led to the present crisis.

The exemption, in place for decades and which over the years has spared an increasingly large number of people, has become a heated topic in Israel with the military still embroiled in a war in Gaza.