| Washington – The US government added more than two dozen companies in China, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates to a trade blacklist, accusing them of providing illicit support to Iran’s military or its regional proxies, administration of President Donald Trump said on Thursday. The Commerce Department included two subsidiaries of US-based chip distributor Arrow Electronics Inc. on its so-called entity list for allegedly facilitating purchases of American technology by Iran-linked groups. It is unusual for units of a US-listed company to appear on the blacklist. Arrow spokesperson John Hourigan said the subsidiaries in China and Hong Kong “have been operating in full compliance with US export control regulations” and the company was discussing the matter with the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS). In all, BIS added 26 entities and three addresses to the list of firms that US vendors cannot sell to without government approval. US suppliers should presume requests will be denied on national security grounds, the agency said. The U.S. believes Iran’s oil networks help Tehran fund its nuclear and missile programs and support militant proxies throughout the Middle East. Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes. The sanctions came even as Israel and Hamas signed a Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal, which if fully implemented, would bring the two sides closer than any previous effort to halt a war that had evolved into a regional conflict, drawing in countries such as Iran, Yemen and Lebanon. |
US sanctions firms in China, Turkey and UAE over Iran links
