
US sanctions target those providing Iran with 'defense machinery,' Houthi oil trading
"The United States remains resolved to disrupt any effort by Iran to procure the sensitive, dual-use technology, components, and machinery that underpin the regime's ballistic missile, unmanned aerial vehicle, and asymmetric weapons programs," U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said.
"Treasury will continue to degrade Iran's ability to produce and proliferate these deadly weapons, which threaten regional stability and global security," he added in a statement announcing the action.
Two of the entities include shipping companies based in Hong Kong: Unico Shipping Co Ltd and Athena Shipping Co Ltd, the statement said.
The Treasury Department on Friday also issued counterterrorism-related sanctions targeting Yemen's Houthis over alleged illicit oil trading and shipping, it said in a separate statement.
Those sanctions target four individuals, 12 entities, and two vessels over imported oil and other illicit goods to support the Houthis, the department said.
Reuters
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles

L'Orient-Le Jour
4 hours ago
- L'Orient-Le Jour
Anti-drone system propels Greek plans for home-grown defence industry
It took just minutes for a new Greek-made anti-drone system to show what it is capable of. On its first test run with a European Union patrol in the Red Sea a year ago, the Centauros system detected and swiftly brought down two aerial drones launched by Yemen's Houthis, who have been attacking merchant vessels in the busy shipping lane. Another two drones swiftly retreated: Centauros had jammed their electronics, said Kyriakos Enotiadis, electronics director at state-run Hellenic Aerospace Industry (HAI), which produces the anti-drone system. The successful test run added impetus to Greek government plans to develop a home-grown industry to mass produce anti-drone and drone systems - part of a 30-billion-euro programme aimed at modernising the country's armed forces by 2036. Named after the mythological half-man, half-horse creature, Centauros can detect drones from a distance of 150 km (93 miles) and fire from 25 km (15.5 miles). Greece plans to install it throughout its naval fleet. "It's the only battle-proven anti-drone system [made] in Europe," Enotiadis said, as dozens of employees worked nearby, assembling electronic components of anti-aircraft missiles. Up until now, Greece has been using only a few dozen ISR - intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance - unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), most of them made abroad, including in France and Israel. As the multibillion-euro defence programme is rolled out, it will incorporate Greek-made anti-drone and combat drone systems into the armed forces, including its planned anti-aircraft ballistic dome, called Achilles Shield Historic Rivalry Greece's neighbour, NATO-ally and historic rival Turkey is a prolific drone exporter. Greece spends nearly 3.5 percent of gross domestic product on defense due to the long-standing dispute with Turkey, with the domestic defence industry accounting for only a fraction of that. In the coming decade, it plans to invest some 800 million euros ($925 million) in defence innovation, said Pantelis Tzortzakis, CEO of the newly founded Hellenic Centre for Defense Innovation (HCDI), which is supervised by the Defense Ministry. "Our target is to export as much as we spend on defence annually," Tzortzakis said. Altus, one of a few Greek private companies that manufacture combat drones, in cooperation with France's MBDA, has produced Kerveros - a vertical take-off and landing UAV with a payload of more than 30 kg (66 pounds) that includes advanced anti-tank missiles. "I'm very optimistic about the Greek drone industry," said Zacharias Sarris, co-owner of Altus, which already exports ISR drones to five countries. "Greece has a great need for this technology," he added, referring to the country's complex geopolitical position. In the meantime, HAI is aiming high. In 2026, it will start mass-producing two more portable anti-drone systems called Iperion and Telemachus, designed to protect troops from drone swarms and lethal mini drones. It will also present its first big unmanned aerial vehicle, Archytas, named after the ancient Greek inventor said to have produced the first autonomous flying machine in about 400 BC. "We are striving for this UAV to be the best of its kind," said Nikos Koklas, the company's director of new products. ($1 = 0.8643 euros)


LBCI
5 hours ago
- LBCI
Israel intercepts Houthi missile fired from Yemen
Yemen's Houthi rebels claimed responsibility for firing a missile at Israel's main airport on Tuesday, as the Israeli military said it intercepted it. The Iran-backed rebels targeted Ben Gurion airport "using a 'Palestine 2' hypersonic ballistic missile" in support of Palestinians in Gaza, their military spokesman Yahya Saree said in a video statement. The Israeli military posted on X that "a missile that was launched from Yemen was intercepted by the Israeli air force." Since the start of the war in the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023, the Houthis have repeatedly fired missiles and drones at Israel. Most of them have been intercepted, but they have prompted Israeli air strikes on rebel targets in Yemen. The rebels have also attacked commercial shipping in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden alleged to be linked to Israel, prompting several rounds of U.S.-led air strikes. AFP


LBCI
8 hours ago
- LBCI
US links $1.9 billion in state disaster funds to Israel boycott stance
U.S. states and cities that boycott Israeli companies will be denied federal aid for natural disaster preparedness, the Trump administration has announced, tying routine federal funding to its political stance. The Federal Emergency Management Agency stated in grant notices posted on Friday that states must follow its "terms and conditions." Those conditions require them to certify they will not sever 'commercial relations specifically with Israeli companies' to qualify for funding. The requirement applies to at least $1.9 billion that states rely on to cover search-and-rescue equipment, emergency manager salaries and backup power systems among other expenses, according to 11 agency grant notices reviewed by Reuters. The requirement is the Trump administration's latest effort to use federal funding to promote its views on Israel. Reuters