US Targets Network Supporting Iran’s Drone, Weapons Programs

The Department of the Treasury's seal outside the Treasury Department building in Washington on May 4, 2021. (AP)
The Department of the Treasury's seal outside the Treasury Department building in Washington on May 4, 2021. (AP)
TT
20

US Targets Network Supporting Iran’s Drone, Weapons Programs

The Department of the Treasury's seal outside the Treasury Department building in Washington on May 4, 2021. (AP)
The Department of the Treasury's seal outside the Treasury Department building in Washington on May 4, 2021. (AP)

The United States on Tuesday imposed sanctions on four entities and three people in Iran and Türkiye, accusing them of involvement in the procurement of equipment, including European-origin engines of drones, in support of Iran's drone and weapons programs.

The US Treasury Department said in a statement the procurement network operates on behalf of Iran's Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics.

It marks the latest move by Washington targeting Iran's unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) industry. The US earlier this month imposed sanctions on a China-based network over accusations it has shipped aerospace parts to an Iranian company involved in the production of drones that Tehran has used to attack oil tankers and exported to Russia.

"Iran’s well-documented proliferation of UAVs and conventional weapons to its proxies continues to undermine both regional security and global stability,” Treasury's Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, Brian Nelson, said in the statement.

"The United States will continue to expose foreign procurement networks in any jurisdiction that supports Iran’s military industrial complex."

Iran's mission to the United Nations in New York did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Tuesday's move freezes any US assets of those targeted and generally bars Americans from dealing with them. Those that engage in certain transactions with them also risk being hit with sanctions.

Among those designated was Iran-based Defense Technology and Science Research Center (DTSRC), Amanallah Paidar, who Treasury said has served as a commercial manager and procurement agent for DTSRC, and Farazan Industrial Engineering, Inc., established by Paidar.

Turkish citizen Murat Bukey was also designated. The Treasury accused him of facilitating the procurement of a variety of goods with defense applications, including chemical and biological detection devices, for Paidar.

The Treasury said Bukey also "attempted to provide European-origin engines with UAV and surface-to-air missile applications to Paidar and Farazan and, separately, sold more than 100 European-origin UAV engines and related accessories worth more than $1 million to companies that likely transshipped the items to Iran."

Spain's high court in April last year agreed to extradite Bukey to the United States.

He was arrested in the Barcelona airport at the request of US prosecutors, who suspect him of importing from the US and selling in Iran fuel cells that can be used in powering ballistic missiles and biodetection in 2012 and 2013, the court said.



Anti-war Demonstrators Protest the Arrival of an Israeli Cruise Ship on the Greek Island of Crete

 Pro-Palestinians protesters gather during the departure of a ship carrying Israeli tourists, background, in Agios Nikolaos port, on the island of Crete, Greece, Tuesday, July 29, 2025. (Antonis Zouridakis/Eurokinissi via AP)
Pro-Palestinians protesters gather during the departure of a ship carrying Israeli tourists, background, in Agios Nikolaos port, on the island of Crete, Greece, Tuesday, July 29, 2025. (Antonis Zouridakis/Eurokinissi via AP)
TT
20

Anti-war Demonstrators Protest the Arrival of an Israeli Cruise Ship on the Greek Island of Crete

 Pro-Palestinians protesters gather during the departure of a ship carrying Israeli tourists, background, in Agios Nikolaos port, on the island of Crete, Greece, Tuesday, July 29, 2025. (Antonis Zouridakis/Eurokinissi via AP)
Pro-Palestinians protesters gather during the departure of a ship carrying Israeli tourists, background, in Agios Nikolaos port, on the island of Crete, Greece, Tuesday, July 29, 2025. (Antonis Zouridakis/Eurokinissi via AP)

Demonstrators calling for an end to the war in Gaza protested the arrival of an Israeli cruise ship on another Greek island Tuesday – the third such protest on Greek islands in the last week.

Protesters on the southern Greek island of Crete unfurled a huge Palestinian flag at the port of Agios Nikolaos and shouted “Free, free Palestine” as the tourists on board the Crown Iris disembarked and left on buses for their tours of the island, according to images shown on local media outlets.

Riot police kept the crowd away from the pier where the cruise ship was docked, while scuffles broke out between demonstrators and police. Local media reported that officers used pepper spray at one point to keep the crowd back.

Four people were detained, local media said. Video showed police leading one man away, his arms cuffed behind his back, as he shouted “Free, free Palestine.”

Similar scenes unfolded the previous day when the Crown Iris docked in a port on the eastern Greek island of Rhodes, where clashes broke out between riot police and demonstrators calling for an end to the war in Gaza. There also, the cruise ship’s passengers disembarked for tours of the island, and no violence was reported.

Anti-war protesters on Greece’s Cycladic island of Syros were the first to hold a demonstration against the docking of the Crown Iris, on July 22. The crowd of about 150 people chanted slogans and carried banners that read “Stop the Genocide” and “No a/c in hell” — a reference to the conditions Palestinians face in the Gaza Strip.

On that occasion, the ship’s roughly 1,700 passengers didn't disembark and the ship left the island earlier than planned, with the company operating the trip, Israel’s Mano Cruise, saying it had “decided in light of the situation in the city of Syros to now sail to another tourist destination.”

Last week's incident had triggered a phone call by Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar to Greek counterpart George Gerapetritis.

Greece is a popular tourist destination for Israelis on package tours and traveling independently, particularly in the summer months, and there are several flights per day between Tel Aviv and Athens, as well as from Israeli airports directly to Greek islands.