US sanctions global network over “procuring weapons” for IRGC

Shafaq News- Washington

The US Department of the Treasury on Wednesday imposed sanctions on seven individuals and entities accused of supporting weapons procurement for Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), citing Tehran's recent attacks on commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.

The Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said the sanctions target an international network that allegedly used foreign aviation and transport companies, financial intermediaries, and travel coordinators to conceal the IRGC's role in acquiring weapons and moving personnel and military-related materials across borders.

"President Trump has been clear that Iran must denuclearize," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated, vowing that the Treasury will continue to target and disrupt “the illicit procurement networks that fund Iran's weapons programs and war machine."

According to the Treasury, the network centered on Behrouz Namazi, the general director of Tehran-based Nika Jet Company, whom US authorities accuse of seeking to procure weapons for the IRGC. OFAC also sanctioned Nigeria-based Vanguard Tactical Supply Limited, Italy-based Dounia Ettaib, Russia-based Avratek OOO, and Russian nationals Mariya Vladimirovna Selina and Vadim Anatolyevich Druzhbin for allegedly facilitating procurement, financing, transportation, and travel linked to the network.

Today, following Iran’s attacks on commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned targets involved in an international network supporting weapons procurement efforts on behalf of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

— Treasury Department (@USTreasury) July 15, 2026

The action builds on sanctions imposed in May and June that targeted procurement networks supplying weapons to the IRGC and Iran's Center for Innovation and Technology Cooperation, the Treasury explained, noting that the latest designations fall under Executive Order 13382, which authorizes sanctions against proliferators of weapons of mass destruction and their supporters.

Under the sanctions, all US-based property and financial interests belonging to the designated individuals and entities are blocked, and US persons are generally prohibited from conducting transactions with them. The Treasury also warned that foreign financial institutions could face secondary sanctions if they knowingly facilitate significant transactions involving sanctioned parties.