US Sanctions Company Accused of Developing Iran’s Chemical Weapons

State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller speaks during a press briefing at the Department of State in Washington on July 24, 2023. (Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times)

The United States has sanctioned an Iranian company over its alleged involvement in Iran’s chemical weapons research and development, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said on July 12.

Washington imposed sanctions on Hakiman Shargh Research Company for “engaging or attempting to engage in activities or transactions that materially contribute to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction by Iran,” according to the spokesman.

“These sanctions are being imposed pursuant to Executive Order 13382, which targets proliferators of weapons of mass destruction and their supporters,” Mr. Miller said in a statement.

He said the U.S. government aims to counter the Iranian regime’s efforts to develop chemical weapons, “including those that may be used by its proxies and partners to support Iran’s destabilizing agenda of inciting and prolonging conflict around the world.”

The move comes weeks after the U.S. Treasury Department announced sanctions on nearly 50 entities and people it accused of moving billions of dollars for the Iranian military.

The Treasury said those targeted constitute a “shadow banking network” used by Iran’s Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces Logistics (MODAFL) and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), both of which are under U.S. sanctions.

The network helped the MODAFL and the IRGC gain access to the international financial system and process the equivalent of billions of dollars since 2020, the treasury stated.

It said the MODAFL and IRGC used the revenue generated through networks of Iranian exchange houses and foreign cover companies to support the provision of weapons and funding to Iran’s proxy groups, including Yemen’s Houthi terrorist group.

US Assessment of Iran’s Chemical Weapons Development

Iran is among four countries—including Burma (also known as Myanmar), Russia, and Syria—listed by the U.S. government as being in noncompliance with the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC).

The CWC is an international treaty that prohibits the development, production, stockpiling, and use of chemical weapons by state parties, to which Iran is a signatory.

Mr. Miller said on July 12 that Washington has assessed Iran to be in violation of the CWC since 2018 because of the country’s failure to declare its chemical weapons-related activities and facilities.

The spokesman said that a recent U.S. assessment showed that Iran was developing “pharmaceutical-based agents” as part of the country’s chemical weapons program, which violates the CWC.

A recent report by the State Department alleged that Iran’s chemical weapons program “includes pursuit of certain PBAs [pharmaceutical-based agents] as part of a broader category of ‘incapacitating agents’ for offensive purposes.”

The report alleged that Iran’s military-controlled facilities have been researching chemicals that have “sedation, dissociation, and amnestic incapacitating effects” since 2005.

Reuters contributed to this report.