U.S. Imposes Sanctions on Chinese and U.S. Companies for Supplying Missile Components to Iran
The Department of the Treasury has recently designated four Chinese companies and one U.S. company as proliferators of weapons of mass destruction for supplying Iran's military and Iranian proliferators with missile-related and dual-use components. As a result of the designations that were made under Executive Order13382 all transactions between the designees and any U.S. person are prohibited. In addition, U.S. financial institutions must freeze the assets of the designees.
The designated Chinese companies are:- Beijing Alite Technologies Company, Ltd. (ALCO)
- LIMMT Economic and Trade Company, Ltd.
- China Great Wall Industry Corporation (CGWIC)
- China National Precision Machinery Import/Export Corporation (CPMIEC).
- Torrance, California-based G.W. Aerospace, Inc., which serves as the U.S. office of CGWIC.
The Treasury Department stated that the Chinese firms have provided, or attempted to provide, financial, material, technological or other support for, or goods or services in support of, the Aerospace Industries Organization (AIO), the Shahid Bakeri Industrial Group and/or the Shahid Hemmat Industrial Group (SHIG), all of which were designated in the annex to E.O. 13382.
According to Treasury, AIO, is a subsidiary of the Iranian Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics and is the overall manager and coordinator of Iran's missile program, overseeing all of Iran's missile industries. SBIG, an affiliate of AIO, is also involved in Iran's missile programs. Among the weapons SBIG produces are the Fateh-110 missile, with a range of 200 kilometers, and the Fajr rocket systems, a series of North Korean-designed rockets produced under license by SBIG with ranges of between 40 and 100 kilometers. Both systems are capable of being armed with at least chemical warheads.
SHIG is responsible for Iran's liquid-fuelled ballistic missile programs, most notably the Shahab-III medium range ballistic missile, which is based on the North-Korean-designed No Dong missile and has a range of at least 1300 kilometers.
Not surprisingly, the U.S. designation of the Chinese entities has angered Beijing. China's People's Daily reports that a Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson yesterday called the U.S. actions "groundless" and "extremely irresponsible". The spokesperson said that the "Chinese government will strictly handle any acts against the country's non-proliferation policies and export control regulations."
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