WASHINGTON: The United States on Tuesday imposed sanctions on companies it accused of being involved in the production of or transfer to Russia of Iranian drones that have been used in attacks on civilian infrastructure in Ukraine.
The US Treasury Department in a statement said it imposed sanctions on the Shahed Aviation Industries Research Center, accusing it of being responsible for the design and production of Shahed-series drones being used by Russian forces in Ukraine, as well as other companies.
Russia has managed to procure drones from Iran that have been used to attack cities and power infrastructure in Ukraine. Iranian military entities and industries are already under heavy US sanctions over Tehran’s nuclear development program
“As we have demonstrated repeatedly, the United States is determined to sanction people and companies, no matter where they are located, that support Russia’s unjustified invasion of Ukraine,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in the statement.
“Today’s action exposes and holds accountable companies and individuals that have enabled Russia’s use of Iranian-built UAVs to brutalize Ukrainian civilians,” she said, using the acronym for unmanned aerial vehicle.
Private military company Wagner group, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Aerospace Force, and Qods Aviation Industries — already under US sanctions — were also designated by the State Department in Tuesday’s move, the Treasury said.
US targets production, transfer of Iranian drones to Russia in new sanctions
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US targets production, transfer of Iranian drones to Russia in new sanctions
- US Treasury Department in a statement said it imposed sanctions on the Shahed Aviation Industries Research Center
- Treasury accused the center of being responsible for the design and production of Shahed-series drones being used by Russian forces in Ukraine
Gazans salvage ancient books in mosque library damaged by war
- The Great Omari Mosque library sustained terrible damaged during the war in Gaza
- The mosque now stands largely ruined, with its library littered with rubble and dust
GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories: Inside the dusty shell of one of the oldest libraries in the Palestinian territories, a group of Gazan volunteers work diligently to salvage what remains of their ancient cultural heritage.
The Great Omari Mosque library sustained terrible damaged during the war in Gaza, which erupted in October 2023 and devastated swathes of the Palestinian territory, including cultural and religious sites.
The mosque — in the old town of Gaza City — now stands largely ruined, with its library littered with rubble and dust.
“I was shocked and stunned when I saw the extent of the destruction in the library,” Haneen Al-Amsi told AFP, saying the scenes of devastation had spurred her to help launch the restoration initiative.
Amsi, who heads the Eyes on Heritage Volunteer Foundation, said the western part of the library was burned when the mosque was hit, causing irreversible damage.
“The library was estimated to contain about 20,000 books, but currently we are left with fewer than 3,000 or 4,000,” she explained.
Among the debris, volunteers hoping to restore the collection pored over charred fragments of manuscript and shards of yellowed paper.
“The library of the Great Omari Mosque is considered the third largest library in Palestine after the Al-Aqsa Mosque library and the Ahmed Pasha Al-Jazzar library,” Amsi said.
“It is an important historical library that contains original manuscripts and a diverse collection of books on jurisprudence, medicine, Islamic law, literature and various other subjects.”
Gaza’s history stretches back thousands of years, making the tiny territory a treasure trove of archaeological artefacts from past civilizations including Canaanites, Egyptians, Persians and Greeks.
But more than two years of war between Israel and Hamas took a heavy toll on Gaza’s heritage sites.
As of January 2026, the UN’s cultural agency UNESCO, had verified damage to 150 sites since the start of the war on October 7, 2023 sparked by Hamas’s attack on Israel.
These include 14 religious sites and 115 buildings of historical or artistic interest.
- ‘Represent history’ -
Inside one of the library’s old stone rooms, one woman used a paintbrush to dust off an old tome, while other volunteers wearing facemasks and gloves crouched on the floor to leaf through piles of books.
“The condition of the rare and historical books is deplorable due to their being left for more than 700 to 800 days,” Amsi said, talking of “immense damage and gunpowder residue” on the volumes.
An independent United Nations commission said in June 2025 that Israeli attacks on schools, religious and cultural sites in Gaza amounted to war crimes.
“Israel has obliterated Gaza’s education system and destroyed more than half of all religious and cultural sites in the Gaza Strip,” the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory said in a report.
Israel rejected the commission as “an inherently biased and politicized mechanism of the Human Rights Council” and said the report was “another attempt to promote its fictitious narrative of the Gaza war.”
For Amsi, the importance of restoring the books lay in preserving crucial historic records.
“These books represent the history of the city and bear witness to historical events,” she said.
