“The US Treasury has introduced new sanctions against an international network of companies that support the production of missiles and drones in Iran. The list included enterprises from seven countries, including Ukraine”, — write: www.radiosvoboda.org
Two companies from Ukraine were also on the list. Iranian procurement agent Bahram Tabibi used his Ukraine-registered shell companies Imperativ Ukraina and Ekofera LLC to procure and supply aerospace materials, including aerial horizons and magnetometers, for the Iran Aircraft Industrial Company (HESA), a subsidiary of Iran’s Ministry of Defense. HESA manufactures Iranian military aircraft.
Iranian Batul Shafii provided Ukrainian companies with payments from HESA. Also, Iranian Said Pakhlawani Nejad acted as an intermediary between Ukrainian companies and HESA, in particular for the supply of components for generators, engines, sensors and other equipment.
As Business Insider wrote, HESA also produces the Shahed UAV line, including models 131 and 136, which were supplied to the Russian army for the war against Ukraine in 2022.
The publication specified that GK Imperativ was founded in 2018, worked in Kharkiv and positioned itself as a company trading chemicals and building materials. “Ekofera”, or “Ekonsphere”, was founded in 2016, had offices in Kharkiv and Kyiv and positioned itself as a consulting and intermediary company for wholesale trade of goods and equipment.
Shahed 136 (or “Geran-2”) became the main unmanned aerial vehicle for strikes on targets on the territory of Ukraine, the CNN channel wrote. After Russia signed a $1.75 billion deal with Iran for the production of Iranian UAVs, it made it possible to more than halve the cost of drones: if in 2022 they paid about $200,000 for one such drone, in 2025 this figure dropped to 70,000.