By Pishtaz | 2024-05-07

A private Iranian company that produces unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), quadcopters, engines, and electronic and digital parts has come under sanctions for supporting Russia's development and use of drones.

Bonyan Danesh Shargh engages in a wide range of business activities and operates in the public and private sectors in Iran and abroad.

The US Treasury Department sanctioned the company April 25 for having served as an intermediary for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Aerospace Force Self-Sufficiency Jihad Organization (IRGC ASF SSJO) in its business dealings.

Bonyan Danesh Shargh has been involved in the organization's discussions regarding the Alabuga UAV facility in Tatarstan, Russia.

Russia and Iran had signed a deal in November 2022 for Tehran to help Moscow build 6,000 drones by summer 2025 in Alabuga.

The drones manufactured there are a variant of the Iranian Shahed-136, a small self-detonating drone that can be programmed to fly automatically to a set of Global Positioning System (GPS) co-ordinates.

The IRGC ASF SSJO, which has been under sanctions since 2017, is involved in Iranian ballistic missile research and development and manages Iran's production of Shahed-series UAVs.

The Russians now boast an extensive fleet of Shahed-136 drones that can carry 45.4kg of explosives 1,931km, the Council on Foreign Relations said in January.

Russia's drone industry has been hit by international sanctions, and a number of its drones have been shot down since the start of its war on Ukraine -- prompting Moscow to import drones from Iran.

The sanctions on Bonyan Danesh Shargh are part of a recent series of sanctions on more than a dozen entities, individuals and vessels that have played a central role in clandestine sales of Iranian commodities and UAVs for Iran's Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics (MODAFL).