The US government is taking steps to address risks posed by Venezuela’s acquisition and operation of Iranian-supplied military drones.
On 30 December, the US Department of the Treasury slapped sanctions on Venezuelan firm Empresa Aeronautica Nacional SA, alleging the company aided Venezuela’s acquisition and operation of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) with surveillance and strike capabilities.
The Treasury Department also sanctioned Empresa chair Jose Jesus Urdaneta Gonzalez for allegedly coordinating with the Venezuelan and Iranian militaries to produce Iran’s UAVs in Venezuela.
Empresa “maintains and oversees” assembly in Venezuela of Mohajer-series UAVs, which are produced by Iranian firm Qods Aviation Industries, the US government says.
It says the company negotiated with Qods to sell “millions of dollars’ worth of Mohajer-6 UAVs to Venezuela”, and that it “maintains UAVs operated by the Venezuelan armed forces, including the Iranian Mohajer-2”.
The Mohajer-6 is a “combat UAV with intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities, while Mohajer-2s – known in Venezuela as “ANSU-100s” – are armed drones “capable of launching Iranian-designed Qaem air-to-ground guided bombs”, says the Treasury Department. “Iran’s ongoing provision of conventional weapons to Caracas constitutes a threat to US interests in the Western Hemisphere.”
The move comes amid escalating tension between Venezuela and the USA, which has responded by shifting considerable air and sea forces to the Caribbean.
The sanctions permit the US government to freeze assets controlled by Empresa and Gonzalez, and prohibit business dealings with either.
