Iran’s military drones are supplied by 2 Ukrainian companies dealing in aerospace parts, the US says

This article by Matthew Loh was originally published by Business Insider.

Two companies in Ukraine have been supplying an Iranian state-owned military manufacturer with key parts for drones, the U.S. Treasury Department said on Wednesday.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control said in a statement that it was placing sanctions on GK Imperativ and Ekofera, two Ukraine-based companies.

The firms are accused of being fronts for Iranian procurement agents who were supplying aerospace parts to the Iran Aircraft Manufacturing Industrial Company, or HESA.

HESA designed and builds the Shahed-131 and Shahed-136, long-range loitering munitions that are being used heavily by Russia to attack Ukrainian cities.

However, the Treasury Department specifically highlighted HESA’s role in developing the Ababil-series uncrewed aerial vehicle, a low-cost, multi-role drone that can perform reconnaissance or attack missions. Iran-aligned militant groups such as Hamas, the Houthis, and Hezbollah are known to use these drones.

The Treasury Department’s announcement said that GK Imperativ and Ekofera helped Iran obtain parts such as attitude indicators, which aid an aircraft in ascertaining the angle of its nose, and magnetometers, which identify and measure magnetic fields.

Three agents in Iran – Bahram Tabibi, Batoul Shafiei, and Saeed Pahlavani Nejad – worked with the Ukrainian companies to establish a network that sold alternator components, engines, sensors, and other parts to Iran, the statement added.

GK Imperativ is listed in Ukrainian business directories as established in 2018, based in Kharkiv, and owned by Tabibi Jabali Bahram. Its listing describes the company as handling chemicals and construction materials.

Ekofera, also known as Econsfera, translates to “Ecosphere” in English. The firm is listed as having been established in 2016, with offices in Kharkiv and Kyiv, and is described as a consultancy and an intermediary for wholesale goods and machinery.

Business Insider’s calls to both companies went unanswered.

The Treasury Department said it was placing the trio of agents and the two Ukrainian firms on the US sanctions list under Executive Order 13382, which “targets weapons of mass destruction proliferators and their supporters.”

“The United States also expects the international community to fully implement UN snapback sanctions on Iran to cut off its access to the global financial system,” said John Hurley, the undersecretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, in the statement.

The announcement was part of a larger sanctions list that covered 32 people and companies in the United Arab Emirates, Iran, Germany, China, Hong Kong, India, and Ukraine.

All are accused of “supporting Iran’s ballistic missile and unmanned aerial vehicle production,” the department said.

While Iran’s HESA is the designer of the Shahed variants that Russia regularly deploys, the Kremlin is locally producing thousands of the drones, which are also referred to as Gerans.

Feature Image: A Shahed-136 drone on launcher in a pickup truck (likely Toyota Tundra) displayed during the 44th Islamic revolution anniversary ceremony in Tehran, Feb 11, 2023. (Photo by Meghdad Madadi/Tasnim News)

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