The United States on Tuesday announced sweeping sanctions on 32 individuals and companies across eight countries it accused of helping Iran rebuild its ballistic missile and drone programs after setbacks sustained during a June conflict with Israel.
The sanctions hit entities in Iran, China, Turkey, Germany, India, Ukraine, Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates.
In a statement published on the treasury’s website, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said the targeted networks facilitated procurement of key materials and technology for Iran’s weapons programs and supported the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and its overseas Quds Force.
"These networks pose a threat to U.S. and allied personnel in the Middle East and to commercial shipping in the Red Sea," OFAC said in a statement published on its website.
"As Iran seeks to reconstitute its proliferation-sensitive capabilities destroyed during following the 12‑Day War, OFAC is acting to disrupt the procurement of key components, such as missile propellant precursors, and to prevent those assisting Iran from accessing the U.S. financial system."
Sourcing from China
The Treasury described one of the key networks as the “MVM partnership,” a three-man venture accused of sourcing missile propellant chemicals—such as sodium perchlorate and sebacic acid—from China for Iran’s Defense Industries Organization.
Among those named were Marco Klinge, based in the UAE, Majid Dolatkhah in Iran and Turkey and Vahid Qayumi, who coordinated deliveries inside Iran. Several affiliated firms were also blacklisted.
The sanctions appear to target Iran’s imports of sodium perchlorate from China, after a CNN report in late October said shipments of the missile fuel ingredient had risen in recent weeks.
Ten to twelve shipments of the material began arriving in Iran from China on September 29, containing about 2,000 tons of sodium perchlorate that can be used to produce solid propellant for medium-range conventional missiles, the CNN report said citing European intelligence sources.
Another cluster of sanctions targeted Iran’s Kimia Part Sivan Company (KIPAS), linked to the IRGC’s drone development, and its subsidiaries involved in manufacturing UAV components and electronics.
Four Iranian employees, including Seyyed Ali Abtahi, were sanctioned for overseeing parts production and procurement.
Aircraft sensors
The Treasury also sanctioned a China-based financier, Ma Jie, and a dozen associated firms in Hong Kong and Turkey accused of helping Iran’s Mado company, which allegedly builds engines for Shahed-136 drones used by Russia in Ukraine.
A separate network connected to Iran’s Aircraft Manufacturing Industrial Company was accused of using shell firms in Ukraine to acquire aircraft sensors and navigation equipment.
Tuesday’s action marks the second major US sanctions round since the UN “snapback” of Iran restrictions in late September, which Washington says reinstated the pre-2015 embargo on Tehran’s missile and arms activity.
Treasury officials said the move underscores Washington’s effort to cut off Iran’s access to critical components “wherever they try to hide.”
“Across the globe, Iran exploits financial systems to launder funds, procure components for its nuclear and conventional weapons programs, and support its terrorist proxies,” said John K. Hurley, Treasury’s under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence.
But new estimate by Washington-based advocacy group United Against a Nuclear Iran showed that Iran exported more than 2.2 million barrels per day (bpd) of oil in October, mostly to China.
The buoyant flows indicated the maximum pressure campaign Trump is imposing on Iran is falling far short of the results achieved in his first term, when exports sank to as low as about 200,000 bpd.
Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh told the Abu Dhabi Strategic Debate on Tuesday that Iran was engaged in indirect diplomacy when the attacks took place, calling Washington’s approach a “betrayal of diplomacy.”
He said Tehran still seeks a negotiated resolution to the decades-long nuclear dispute but will not compromise on national security.
Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who has final authority on foreign and nuclear policy, has said negotiations with Washington cannot continue under pressure.
Talks between Tehran and Washington, conducted indirectly through intermediaries earlier this year, have stalled since the June conflict, which Iranian officials say shattered trust. Major differences persist over uranium enrichment levels and the lifting of sanctions.
"Tehran is not seeking nuclear bombs and ... is prepared to assure the world about it. We are very proud of our home-grown nuclear program, and is against anyone who tries to sabotage and manipulate it" the diplomat added.
International monitors, including the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), have reported no evidence that Iran is building a nuclear weapon, Khatibzadeh pointed out, adding that US intelligence assessments before the June conflict also indicated that Tehran was not actively pursuing bomb development.
Iran maintains that its nuclear program is entirely peaceful and subject to international oversight, arguing that Western claims of weaponization are politically motivated. US officials, however, have continued to call for stricter limits on Iran’s enrichment and missile programs.
Support for regional groups
Khatibzadeh said Iran remained in contact with regional groups it considers part of its security framework, insisting their attacks on Israel were responses to the situation in Gaza and not launched on Iran’s orders.
“I would like to challenge the concept of proxies and militias... reducing them to being Iran’s militias or proxies is oversimplifying the situation,” he said, adding that for example Hezbollah was created after the Israeli attacks to Lebanon in 1980s. “With or without Iran supporting them, the resistance would stay there."
The Iranian deputy foreign minister added, “Has anybody noticed that Hezbollah has fired any bullets on behalf of Iran in the past few months? Everything Hezbollah has done has been for the cause of Palestine.”
On Monday, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told parliament that Tehran had devoted much of its diplomatic capacity to supporting the so-called “axis of resistance,” a term it uses for allied movements in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Yemen and among Palestinian factions.
Data released on Monday by the US-based advocacy group United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) shows that Tehran shipped 6.86 billion barrels of oil in October — nearly 2.2 million barrels per day — valued at about 4.4 billion dollars.
According to the tracker, roughly 90 percent of Iran’s exports were destined for China.
Separately, TankerTrackers reported on Sunday that Iran’s oil exports reached a record 2.3 million barrels per day in October, the highest level in seven years for the sanctions-hit theocracy.
UANI said most shipments pass through Kharg Island in the Persian Gulf on reflagged or ghost tankers operating without transponders. The group said the trade is sustaining Iran’s military industries and regional proxies.
The US Treasury announced new sanctions last month on China-based buyers and refineries accused of processing sanctioned crude, but enforcement remains inconsistent.
Sanctions experts say the dynamic reflects a broader reality in which restrictions squeeze ordinary Iranians while enriching politically connected insiders and deepening economic ties with China.
“Sanctions have had an impact, there’s no question,” said Gregory Brew, a Middle East and energy expert, on Iran International’s Eye for Iran podcast. “But the idea that they can be used to change state behavior, I think that age is coming to an end.”
Despite the Trump administration’s pressure, Iran continues to earn over 4 billion dollars a month from oil sales.
