The United States on Wednesday restricted trade with five companies it said helped produce and procure drones for use by Russia in Ukraine and by Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Red Sea shipping attacks.
Companies from Russia and China are among 11 new companies added to the U.S. Commerce Department’s entity list, which means suppliers need to obtain licenses before shipping goods and technology to them.
Russia has stepped up drone and missile attacks on Ukrainian energy facilities in recent weeks, causing significant damage and threatening a repeat of the blackouts experienced in the first year after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
The Commerce Department said it added a Chinese entity, Jiangxi Xintuo Enterprise Company, to support the Russian military through the purchase, development and proliferation of Russian drones.
China’s Shenzhen Jiasibo Technology Company is accused of being involved in a network that procured aerospace parts, including drone applications, for an Iranian aircraft company. Three Russian entities – Aerosila JSC SPE, Delta-Aero LLC and JSC ODK-Star – were added as part of the network.
“These components are used in the development and production of the Shahed series of drones, which have been used by Iran to attack oil tankers in the Middle East and by Russia against Ukraine,” the Federal Register notice said, referring to the drones. machine.
Attacks by Iran-backed Houthi rebels on ships, including oil tankers, have disrupted global shipping in the Red Sea. Yemen’s Houthis say they are retaliating for Israel’s war against Palestinian Hamas militants in Gaza.
Companies are added to the U.S. Entity List when Washington deems a company to pose a threat to U.S. national security or foreign policy. Suppliers must then obtain a license before shipping goods to entities on the list, but the license may be denied.
According to the post, two United Arab Emirates companies, Khalaj Trading LLC and Mahdi Khalaj Amirhosseini, were added for clear violations of Iranian sanctions by exporting or attempting to export goods from the United States to Iran through the UAE.
Four Chinese entities are accused of acquiring U.S. items to support China’s military modernization efforts, the report said. They are LINKZOL (Beijing) Technology Company, Xi’an Like Innovation Information Technology Company, Beijing Anzhi Technology Company and Xitong Haoli (Tianjin) Company.
U.S.-China military engagement resumed late last year, but tensions persist as fundamental differences over Taiwan and the South China Sea remain dangerous potential flashpoints.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping has poured billions of dollars into buying and developing equipment as part of efforts to modernize a “world-class” military by 2050, with Beijing’s massive defense budget growing faster than the economy for years.
Follow us on Google news ,Twitter , and Join Whatsapp Group of thelocalreport.in
