U.S. Treasury Department sanctions Iranian firms

Jan. 4 (UPI) -- The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned five Iran-based entities linked to the country's ballistic program Thursday.

The five entities targeted by the sanctions are subsidiaries of the Shahid Bakeri Industrial Group, part of Iran's Defense Ministry.

"These sanctions target key entities involved in Iran's ballistic missile program, which the Iranian regime prioritizes over the economic well-being of the Iranian people. As the Iranian people suffer, their government and the [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps] fund foreign militants, terrorist groups and human rights abuses," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said.

Each of the five entities, including Shahid Kharrazi Industries, Shahid Sanikhani Industries, Shahid Moghaddam Industries, Shahid Eslami Research Center and Shahid Shustari Industries, are cited for researching, developing and producing components and systems for the Shahid Bakeri Industrial Group.

The sanctions block all property and interests in property of the designated entities that are subject to U.S. jurisdiction.

People in the United States also are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with the entities and foreign people and financial institutions that knowingly engage with them are subject to sanctions.

"The United States will continue to decisively counter the Iranian regime's malign activity, including additional sanctions targeting human rights abuses," Mnuchin said. "We will not hesitate to call out the regime's economic mismanagement, and diversion of significant resources to fund threatening missile systems at the expense of its citizenry."