Iranian drone. EPA Yonhap News

The U.S. Trump administration has imposed sanctions on 10 companies and individuals who assisted Venezuela and Iran in enhancing their weapons capabilities.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced on the 30th (local time) that it had designated for sanctions Venezuela's state-owned aerospace company (EANSA), which has been producing drones designed by Iran's defense company Qods Aviation Industries (QAI), and its chairman.

The Treasury Department explained that EANSA aided QAI, which the U.S. had already sanctioned, in selling millions of dollars worth of drones to Venezuela.

The Treasury Department also added two individuals and one company based in Iran to the sanctions list for attempting to procure chemicals used in the manufacturing of ballistic missiles, such as sodium perchlorate, sebacic acid, and nitrocellulose.

Furthermore, two companies and three individuals based in Iran were sanctioned for their involvement with an Iranian company (RFKA), which was already sanctioned for producing parts and aerospace software necessary for the development of drones by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

"The Treasury Department is holding Iran and Venezuela accountable for aggressively and recklessly proliferating deadly weapons around the world," said John K. Hall, Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence.

When designated for sanctions, all assets held within the United States are frozen, and U.S. persons and companies are prohibited from transacting with sanctioned entities.

Meanwhile, the Treasury Department has removed Alexandra Buriko, the former Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Russia's largest state-owned bank Sberbank, from the sanctions list.

According to Reuters, the Treasury Department sanctioned Buriko along with other individuals and companies deemed crucial for Russia's ability to sustain its war efforts against Ukraine in May 2022.

However, Buriko resigned from the bank shortly after the U.S. sanctioned Sberbank in April 2022 and filed a lawsuit against the Treasury Department in December 2024.

She argued that it was illegal to keep her on the sanctions list due to her association with Sberbank after her resignation, and the lawsuit is still ongoing.