Procurement

Oct. 2 (UPI) — The United States is blacklisting 44 individuals and firms accused of being involved in Iran’s nuclear program and weapons procurement network, as the Trump administration continues to increase its so-called maximum pressure strategy on Tehran.

The sanctions were announced by the U.S. State and Treasury departments on Wednesday, days after the restoration of United Nations sanctions and other punitive measures on Iran.

Among sanctions announced Wednesday, the State Department hit five individuals and one entity connected to Iran’s Organization of Defensive Innovation and Research, the successor of Iran’s pre-2004 nuclear program and originally sanctioned by the administration of President Barack Obama in 2014.

Known by the initials SPND, the Tehran-based entity, founded in February 2011, is responsible for nuclear weapons development research.

The State Department said it blacklisted Reza Mozaffarinia, director of SPND, Ali Fuladvand, head of the Research Directorate at SPND, and Mohammad Reza Ghadir Zare Zaghalchi, longtime SPND-affiliated official and head of U.S.-designated Shahid Fakhar Moghaddam Group.

Andisheh Damavand International Technologies was also blacklisted for facilitating the travel of Iranian nuclear experts to Russia to pursue sensitive duel-use technologies as was its CEO, Ali Kalvand.

The sanctions comes after the State Department blacklisted three Iranian officials and one entity linked to SPND in May.

Coinciding with the State Department action was the Treasury designating 21 entities and 17 individuals accused of facilitating the acquisition of “sensitive goods and technology” for Iran’s Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces, it said.

“The Iranian regime’s support of terrorist proxies and its pursuit of nuclear weapons threatens the security of the Middle East, the United States and our allies around the world,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement.

Among those targeted Wednesday were individuals accused of being part of a network operating out of Iran, Germany, Turkey, Portugal and Uruguay that was procuring military aircraft equipment for Tehran, including U.S.-manufactured helicopters.

The Treasury said its sanctions were part of President Donald Trump‘s February memorandum reinstating the maximum pressure campaign of his first administration.

In 2018, Trump unilaterally pulled the United States from an Obama-era accord, which aimed to prevent Iran from securing a nuclear weapon. Calling the multinational joint Comprehension Plan of Action “defective at its core,” he then reinstated sanctions against Iran in hopes of coercing it back to the negotiation table on a new deal.

Instead, the reclusive regime advanced its nuclear program.

The United Nations last week reinstated sanctions under a so-called snapback mechanism that had been terminated when the JCPOA was implemented in 2016, and which Trump had sought to have reimpose since 2018.

The U.S. State Department said Wednesday’s sanctions were in support of those “snapback” punitive measures.

“The United States is committed to denying Iran all paths to a nuclear weapon,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement.

“We will not hesitate to hold accountable anyone who supports Tehran’s proliferation activities.”

Aug. 19 (UPI) — A Russian national living in New Jersey has been sentenced to 2 1/2 years for his role in helping the Kremlin illegally acquire ammunition and sensitive dual-use electronics, the Justice Department said.

U.S. District Judge Hector Gonzalez sentenced Vadim Yermolenko, who is in his mid-40s, in a Brooklyn courtroom Monday to 30 months in prison for his role in the international procurement and money laundering scheme.

“The defendant lied to banks, facilitated the illegal export of ammunition and sensitive technology and evaded income taxes, all as part of a global procurement and money laundering network operated on behalf of the Russian Government,” U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella of the Eastern District of New York said in a statement.

“Today’s sentence should send a message to all who would consider abusing the financial system to commit crimes on behalf of foreign nations: This office will find you, prosecute you and, if you are convicted, seek a significant prison sentence.”

Yermolenko pleaded guilty to several conspiracy charges, including conspiracy to commit bank fraud and to defraud the United States.

Prosecutors said Yermolenko was connected to Serniya Engineering and Sertal LLC, Moscow-based procurement companies under the direction of Russian intelligence services that also operated shell companies and bank accounts in the United States and worldwide.

Serniya, as well as other companies and individuals involved in the scheme, were sanctioned by a handful of countries amid Russia’s war in Ukraine, including the United States.

Yermolenko was accused of working with co-conspirators to unlawfully purchase and then export U.S.-controlled electronic components, some of which are used in the development of nuclear and hypersonic weapons.

He admitted to establishing several shell companies and bank accounts for the scheme in the United States. Prosecutors said more than $12 million passed through accounts under his control that he failed to report to the Internal Revenue Service.

Co-conspirator Nikolaos Bogonikolos was previously sentenced to 15 months in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy charges in the scheme. A second co-defendant, Alexey Brayman, is awaiting sentencing. He has also pleaded guilty.

“Through a sophisticated network of shell companies and bank accounts, Yermolenko laundered more than $12 million and purchased highly sensitive military equipment for Russia — aiding Russia’s military and intelligence agencies in violation of U.S. laws,” IRS-CI New York Special Agent in Charge Harry Chavis said.

“Yermolenko’s greed and misplaced foreign allegiance created a potential threat to our national security and law enforcement’s collaboration on this case ensures that our communities are safe from this potential vulnerability.”