The United States imposed sanctions on a network of individuals supporting the procurement of weapons for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on Wednesday, according to a statement from the US Treasury Department.

The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control identified seven individuals and organizations attempting to purchase and transfer weapons to Iran. This action comes amid an escalation of Iranian attacks on commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz and parallel US military efforts to counter Iran's moves.

President Trump has been clear that Iran must denuclearize, said Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent. Treasury will continue to target and disrupt the illicit procurement networks that fund Iran's weapons programs and war machine.

The attempted arms acquisition directly violated renewed UN Security Council resolutions that prohibit member states from the procurement, supply, sale, or transfer of weapons to Iran.

OFAC will continue to disrupt the overseas procurement and financial networks that sustain Iran's weapons production and proliferation efforts, which threaten Americans and US partners and allies worldwide, the statement emphasized.

The IRGC procurement network

One of the sanctioned individuals is Behrouz Namazi, an Iranian national identified as the general director of the Tehran-based Nika Jet Company, which distributes aircraft and drone parts. According to the statement, he is responsible for obtaining weapons for the IRGC through Vanguard Tactical Supply Limited and a Milan-based Italian national named Dounia Ettaib, who assists in procuring weapons for Namazi.

Russian national Mariya Vladimirovna Selina was also involved as the head of the financial department of Avratek, an aviation transportation company based in Moscow. Selina allegedly supported Namazi's procurement efforts on behalf of the IRGC, according to the Treasury statement.

Russian national Vadim Anatolyevich Druzhbin, another employee at Avratek, was involved in coordinating shipments with Iran.

All implicated individuals and organizations have been penalized for having provided, or attempted to provide, financial, material, technological or other support for, or goods or services in support of, the IRGC, or to Namazi himself, under Executive Order 13382.

The sanctions require that all property owned by US individuals that is in any way related to the sanctioned individuals be immediately reported to OFAC, and that entities owned by the sanctioned individuals up to 50 percent be blocked.

The Treasury statement said that violations of US sanctions may result in civil or criminal penalties on US and foreign persons.

Emphasis on economic pressure on Iran

Operation Economic Fury also comes into play as a financial warfare strategy. The Treasury Department's initiative was designed to impose a chokehold and place maximum economic pressure on Iran during the war, before the US-Iran Memorandum of Understanding was signed.

The strategy consists of maritime blockade efforts in the Strait of Hormuz, as well as sanctions and asset seizures targeting underground weapons procurement networks intended to circumvent existing sanctions on Iran.

The US has taken action to reprimand people sourcing weapons for Iran in the past, including a group of 13 attempting to smuggle man-portable air-defense systems to the regime in June.