Designations Include a Company
Providing Weaponry to the Asad Regime
WASHINGTON – The
U.S. Department of the Treasury today designated four companies and one
individual pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13382, which targets
proliferators of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and their supporters. The SAD Import Export Company, Chemical
Industries and Development of Materials Group, and Marine Industries
Organization were designated for their ties to Iran’s Defense Industries
Organization (DIO) or Iran’s Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics
(MODAFL). Mustafa Esbati, the director
of Marine Industries Organization, was also designated today. In addition, Doostan International Company was
designated for its support to Iran’s Aerospace Industries Organization (AIO) which
was identified as a WMD proliferator by the President in the Annex to E.O.
13382. The United Nations Sanctions
Committee also designated the SAD Import Export Company yesterday under the U.N.
asset freeze authority of Security Council Resolution 1737 dealing with
Iran.
DIO has been linked by the IAEA (International Atomic Energy
Agency) to Iran’s centrifuge production and was previously designated in March
2007 pursuant to E.O. 13382 for its involvement in the Iranian nuclear program. DIO is also identified in the Annex to U.N. Security
Council Resolution 1737. In addition to
its involvement in Iran’s WMD program, DIO has been used by the Iranian
government to assist the Asad regime’s violent crackdown in Syria. SAD Import Export Company shipped weapons to
the Syrian Armed Forces, on behalf of DIO.
These shipments were designed to assist the Syrian government’s
production of mortars and missiles, which have been used against the civilian
population of Syria.
“We will continue to expose the companies and individuals
involved in Iran’s illicit weapons program,” said Treasury Under Secretary for
Terrorism and Financial Intelligence David S. Cohen. “We will also
continue to work to hold Iran accountable for its failure to meet its
international non-proliferation obligations and to expose its support of the
Asad regime’s violence.”
These designations generally prohibit transactions between
the named entities and any U.S. person, and freeze any assets the designees may
have under U.S. jurisdiction. The designations of these entities and individual
under E.O. 13382 also carry consequences under the Comprehensive Iran
Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act of 2010 (CISADA). As of today’s actions, foreign financial
institutions that facilitate significant transactions or provide significant
financial services for the sanctioned entities and individual can face the loss
of their access to the U.S. financial system.
SAD Import Export
Company
SAD Import Export Company was designated pursuant E.O. 13382
for acting on behalf of DIO.
In addition to shipping arms to the Syrian armed forces in
2011, SAD Import Export sent aluminum and other goods, on behalf of DIO, to
Syria’s Mechanical Construction Factory, a front company for the Scientific
Studies and Research Center (SSRC). The
goods were part of a larger contract between DIO and other Syria’s Industrial
Establishment for Defense to provide fuel, fuses, charges, aluminum, and other
goods necessary for the production of full mortar projectiles to Syria. In 2010, SAD Import Export Company shipped
materials and equipment to Syria’s Mechanical Construction Factory for the
ultimate benefit of the SSRC, on behalf of DIO.
These goods were likely used in the manufacture of solid propellant for
rockets and missiles.
The SSRC was listed in the Annex to E.O. 13382 in June 2005
for its ties to Syria’s WMD proliferation activities. The SSRC is the Syrian government agency
responsible for developing and producing non-conventional weapons and the
missiles to deliver them. The SSRC also has a public civilian research
function; however, its activities focus on the development of biological weapons,
chemical weapons, and missiles.
Marine Industries
Organization
Marine Industries Organization was designated pursuant to
E.O. 13882 because it is owned or controlled by Iran’s Ministry of Defense and
Armed Forces Logistics (MODAFL).
MODAFL was designated under E.O. 13382 on October 25, 2007
for its WMD proliferation-related activities.
Marine Industries Organization is responsible for marine military
acquisitions for Iran’s Navy, as well as MODAFL and Iran Revolutionary Guard
Corps (IRGC).
Mustafa Esbati
Mustafa Esbati was designated pursuant to E.O. 13882 because
he acts on behalf of Marine Industries Organization, by virtue of his position as
the Director of Marine Industries Organization.
Chemical Industries
and Development of Materials Group
Iran’s Chemical Industries and Development of Materials
Group (CIDMG) was designated pursuant to E.O. 13382 because it is owned or
controlled by DIO. CIDMG is one of the
major industries overseen by DIO. CIDMG
produces military and civil chemical products and materials for the production
of powders, propellant charges, and mine explosive materials.
Doostan International
Company
Doostan International Company was designated pursuant to E.O.
13882 for providing services to Iran’s Aerospace Industries Organization
(AIO). AIO is the Iranian organization
that oversees all of Iran’s missile industries, including those involved in
Iran’s ballistic missile program, and was listed in the Annex to E.O.
13382.
Identifying
Information
Entity: SAD Import Export Company
Location: Haftom Tir
Square, South Mofteh Ave., P.O. Box 1584864813, Tehran, Iran
Entity: Marine Industries Organization (MIO)
Location: PO Box
19585/777, Tehran, Iran
Individual: Mostafa Esbati
DOB: 17 July 1961
Passport Number: D9004869
Entity: Chemical Industries & Development of
Materials Group (CIDMG)
Location: Pasdaran
Street, Tehran, 19585311, Iran
Entity: Doostan International Company
Location: 16
(formerly 14) Fajr St., Ostad Motahari Ave., Tehran 15875-4649, Iran
###