WASHINGTON: The United States took a series of steps on Wednesday (Oct 18) to signal that Iran’s missile programme will remain restricted after the expiration of UN Security Council sanctions and to curb Iran’s drone transfers to Russia.
Russia said on Tuesday that transfers of missile technology to Iran no longer needed Security Council approval as of Wednesday, when the UN sanctions lapse, without saying whether it now planned to support Tehran’s missile development.
The US effort to limit Iran’s missile and drone programmes comes amid renewed criticism of Tehran for backing Hamas, which carried out an Oct 7 cross-border rampage against communities in southern Israel in which at least 1,300 people died.
The expiration of the UN sanctions falls under a “sunset” clause of the defunct 2015 Iran nuclear deal, which gave Tehran relief from American, European Union and UN sanctions in exchange for limiting its nuclear programme. Former US President Donald Trump abandoned that deal in 2018 and restored US on Iran sanctions.
While efforts by US President Joe Biden’s administration to revive the deal’s restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program have failed, the UN sanctions are still expiring as called for under the deal.
The United States said it would level new sanctions against entities and individuals involved in Iran’s missile, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and conventional arms industries. It also issued an advisory to businesses designed to prevent dual-use technologies getting to Iranian actors.
“These sanctions will exert pressure on Iran’s missile and UAV program in addition to constraining Iran’s conventional arms transfers and ongoing military relationships with countries like Venezuela and Russia, including Iran’s provision of UAVs that Moscow is using against civilian targets in Ukraine,” a senior State Department official told reporters, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The State Department also planned to publish a statement from more than 45 countries that committed to countering Iranian missile-related activities via the so-called Proliferation Security Initiative, a programme begun during George W Bush’s presidency designed to prevent shipments of weapons of mass destruction.
