State Dept., Other Countries Discuss Cutting Off Flow of Drone Parts to Iran
The State Department gathered an undisclosed “group of countries” last week to “strategize” on ways to curb the supply of parts to Iranian drones, a department official said Jan. 17.
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C.S. Eliot Kang, assistant secretary of state for international security and nonproliferation, told the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Indo-Pacific that the countries discussed such measures as export controls, interdiction and sanctions. "I can't discuss [the meeting] in further detail," he said.
Iranian drones used in Russia’s war against Ukraine and in the Middle East have been found to contain parts that are difficult to control because they use "very basic technologies" and “are commodity items in a sense,” Kang said. As a result, countries often don't realize their companies are supplying parts for Iranian unmanned aerial vehicles. “Awareness is absolutely critical,” he testified.
To increase such awareness, the State Department, along with the Commerce, Justice and Treasury departments, issued an 11-page document in June that highlights the due diligence policies, compliance structures and internal controls companies should use to ensure their wares don't end up in Iranian drones (see 2306090040).
Kang’s comments came less than a month after the U.S. sanctioned 10 companies and four people based in Hong Kong, Indonesia, Iran and Malaysia for facilitating the procurement of U.S. and foreign-origin parts for Iranian drones (see 2312190069).