U.S. blacklists 24 more companies for selling to Russians, Iranians

• The Commerce Department has announced that the Biden administration has blacklisted 24 companies and other entities for supporting Russia’s military and defense industry
• They have also been accused of supplying an Iranian electronics company, as well as assisting Pakistan’s nuclear activities
• Based in Latvia, Pakistan, Russia, Singapore and Switzerland, the companies were added to an export control list, as part of US national security and foreign policy concerns

WASHINGTON D.C.: The Commerce Department has announced that the Biden administration has blacklisted 24 companies and other entities for supporting Russia’s military and defense industry and supplying an Iranian electronics company, as well as assisting Pakistan’s nuclear activities.

Based in Latvia, Pakistan, Russia, Singapore and Switzerland, the companies were added to an export control list, as part of US national security and foreign policy concerns, the department added.

The companies include Fiber Optic Solutions in Latvia, which produces fiber optic gyroscopes and other equipment, and Russia’s AO Kraftway Corporation PSC, which calls itself one of the largest Russian IT companies.

Four trading and supply companies in Singapore were also blacklisted for supplying or attempting to supply Pardazan System Namad Arman (PASNA), an Iranian electronics company that was sanctioned by the US Treasury in 2018.

Ten companies in Pakistan and the UAE were also blacklisted by the Biden administration for selling products that aid Pakistan’s “nuclear activities and missile proliferation-related activities,” or “posing unacceptable risks of using or diverting items for Pakistan’s nuclear activities.”

Since Moscow invaded Ukraine in February, the US has strictly imposed export controls to punish companies for their selling to the Russian military, and to curb the flow of foreign technology to Russia.

Suppliers of US goods must seek a difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to companies added to the list.