According to a new report, Iran is using civilian companies as cover to evade sanctions and produce military drones to strike targets across the Middle East.
The study by the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), a coalition of Iranian opposition groups, details for the first time the extensive network of front organizations established by the regime to acquire parts for its drone program despite U.S. and international sanctions.
The NCRI identifies 15 companies with close ties to either Iran’s Ministry of Defense or Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a U.S.-designated terrorist organization, which allow Iran to obtain parts for its growing fleet of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
The IRGC “uses these companies to purchase UAV accessories and equipment and circumvent sanctions,” the report states. “They make up a key smuggling ring of UAV parts and other aerospace industries’ needs under the guise of civilian activities.”
Here’s the list of the 15 companies, some of which were established in just the last couple years:
1. Iranian Aviation & Space Industries Association
2. Iranian Aviation & Space Industries Working Group
3. Iranian Research Organization for Science and Technology (IROST)
4. Iravin Innovation and Acceleration Center
5. Farnas Pasargad Aerospace Industries Company
6. Bal Gostar Negah Asemanha Technology
7. Kharazmi Electronics Industries
8. Iran Bekr Part Khavar Mianeh
9. Sahfa Production-Distribution Cooperative Company — Iranian Aerospace Industries
10. Aras Tech Aircraft Maintenance Services Company
11. Maham Pergas Technology
12. Hezareh Sevvom Industrial Alloy Development Company
13. Nazari Titanium Company
14. Sara Safe Tools
15. Noandishan Composite Structures Industrial-Production
Source » iranbriefing