On Monday, the US Commerce Department blacklists 26 entities for alleged involvement with numerous weapons and drone development programs running in Pakistan and Iran, accused of helping Russia wage war on Ukraine. The 26 entities are mainly based in Pakistan, China, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) accused of violating export controls or evading US sanctions.
Nine Pakistani organizations were sanctioned for doing business on behalf of a company thought to have been related to Pakistan’s ballistic missile programs by posing as procurement agents or front companies. The organizations were said to have allegedly aided in the procurement of U.S. origin items since 2010 by concealing their end-users. The names of seven more Pakistani entities were included in the blacklist due to their contribution to the armament of the country.
It has six blacklisted entities on its list, accused by the United States of buying technology for military modernization in Iran as well as erecting drone programs there. In its updated list, three UAE entities and one in Egypt have been added because all these attempted to circumvent sanctions after Russia invaded Ukraine at the beginning of 2022. However, being on the “entity list” restricts their ability to obtain goods and technologies in the United States without special government permission.
“We continue to stay vigilant in our vigilance to protect U.S. national security from the bad actors,” said Under Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Security Alan Estevez, who also added that violation of export controls does not go unpunished.
Sandvine, a leading Canada-based supplier of deep packet inspection technology, was removed from a widely published blacklist on the grounds of having met all concerns over its misuse of the product for human rights violations. An early 2024 addition, Sandvine’s products had been contributing to mass web monitoring and censorship across borders and being applied against human rights activists.
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