US, UK announce new Iran and Russia sanctions in response to missile transfer
Measures target a combined 13 Russia-flagged vessels, as well as several companies and individuals in Iran and Russia, including Iran’s flagship airline Iran Air
The US and UK introduced new sanctions on Tuesday against Russia and Iran following the latter’s decision to provide Moscow with ballistic missiles
THE US and UK announced a fresh round of sanctions against Iran and Russia on Tuesday that targeted 13 vessels and Iran’s flagship airline Iran Air.
The measures are a response to Iran’s decision to provide Russia with ballistic missiles, both governments said in separate statements.
“Russia has an array of its own ballistic missiles, but the supply of Iranian missiles enables Russia to use more of its arsenal for targets that are further from the front line, while dedicating the new missiles it’s receiving from Iran for closer-range targets,” US secretary of state Anthony Blinken said in a joint press appearance with UK foreign secretary David Lammy.
“This development and the growing co-operation between Russia and Iran threaten European security and demonstrates how Iran’s destabilising influence reaches far beyond the Middle East.”
The UK imposed sanctions on five Russia-flagged general cargo vessels, including two that were previously designated by the US. The US Office of Foreign Assets Control and the US State Department sanctioned eight general cargo vessels, including one that was designated today by the UK, and one ro-ro vessel with container capacity.
The UK said the five vessels it sanctioned — Skif-V (IMO: 8858087), Omskiy-103 (IMO: 8889385), Musa Jalil (IMO: 8846814), Begey (IMO: 8943210) and Baltiyskiy 111 (IMO: 7612448) — transported military supplies from Iran to Russia.
The US State Department sanctioned Russia-based shipowners Vafa Wholesale Limited and Sea River Service Limited. The agency said Vafa’s vessels shipped “Iranian unmanned aerial vehicle-related equipment from Iran to Russia via the Caspian Sea”, while Sea River’s ships transferred munitions from Iran to Russia, also via the Caspian Sea.
Vafa (IMO: 8422670) and Vafa-1 (IMO: 8422682) were identified as property in which Vafa Wholesale has an interest; Omskiy-103 (IMO: 8889385), Omskiy-119 (IMO: 8926913) and Zakamsk (IMO: 8951413) were identified as property in which Sea River has an interest.
Meanwhile, Ofac identified Boris Kustodiev (IMO: 9103817), Port Olya-3 (IMO: 9481910), Port Olya-4 (IMO: 9481934) and Kompozitor Rakhmaninov (IMO: 8606616) as property in which US-sanctioned MG-Flot, formerly TransMorFlot, has an interest. The Russian Ministry of Defense used Port Olya-3 to ship close-range ballistic missiles from Iran to Russia, Ofac said. MG-Flot chairman Dzhamaldin Emirmagomedovich Pashaev was also sanctioned today.
Lloyd’s List Intelligence data shows all but one of the vessels sanctioned today signalling their location in the Caspian Sea, although two have not transmitted an Automatic Identification System signal in several months, while some others have not transmitted it in days or weeks.
Iran Air targeted
The governments of Germany, France, and the UK said they will cancel bilateral air services agreements with Iran Air, which transports both passengers and cargo, and will “work towards imposing sanctions” on the company, according to a joint statement.
Iran Air was previously designated by Ofac under one of its Iran programmes but was designated today for operating in Russia’s transportation sector. Ofac said Iran Air has a “history of transporting goods on behalf of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics”.
“Iran has also provided freight shipping services to Russia, including shipments of electronics and aircraft parts,” Ofac said.
Concurrently, the US State Department designated Iran Air today under a separate Iran authority.
