WASHINGTON: The United States said on Wednesday it was adding 15 Chinese companies to its restricted trade list for facilitating the purchase of American electronic components found in drones operated by Iranian proxies including Houthi and Hamas militants.
Ten companies in China were placed on the Commerce Department’s Entity List for facilitating the purchase of components found in weaponized unmanned aircraft systems operated by proxies including Yemen’s Houthi militants, according to a post in the Federal Register.
Five additional Chinese companies were listed after information that around October 7, 2023, Israel Defense Forces recovered numerous weaponized unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) operated by Iranian proxies including Hamas, the post said, and the debris showed multiple US-origin electronic components.
Hamas-led militants staged an attack in Israel that day that killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies, and triggered the war in Gaza.
In all, the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security is adding 29 entries to the list.
Arrow China Electronics Trading in Shanghai and other Chinese cities and Arrow Electronics (Hong Kong) are among the companies being placed on the list over US components for weaponized drones operated by Iranian proxies like the Houthis.
Both companies are subsidiaries of Centennial, Colorado-based Arrow Electronics, a components distributor which says it had global 2024 sales of $28 billion.
The companies have been and are continuing to operate in compliance with export regulations and the law, according to a statement from the US-headquartered company.
“We are in discussion with BIS concerning these listings and will provide further details as soon as they become available,” Arrow spokesperson John Hourigan said in the statement. “In the meantime, we will work to minimize supply chain disruptions to our partners.”
The US also added another Chinese company to the list for being part of an illicit network that obtains and supplies UAV and other components to front companies of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force (IRGC-QF).
Companies are placed on the Commerce Department’s Entity List for activities deemed contrary to US national security and foreign policy interests. Licenses are required to export to companies on the list, and are likely to be denied.
US targets Chinese companies over drone components used by Hamas, Houthis
https://arab.news/rbxa5
US targets Chinese companies over drone components used by Hamas, Houthis
- 10 China companies in sanctions list for facilitating the purchase of components allegedly found in weaponized Houthi drones
- 5 more companies also sanctioned after components were found in weaponized drones operated by Hamas
Syrian authorities arrest Sednaya Prison guard linked to torture
- Interior Ministry announces capture of Mahmoud Ali Ahmad in Aleppo
- Amnesty International described facility as ‘human slaughterhouse’
LONDON: Syrian authorities have arrested a former guard accused of involvement in torture and executions at Sednaya Prison, as part of their efforts to deliver justice for victims and hold officials of the Bashar Assad regime accountable for crimes against civilians.
The Interior Ministry on Thursday announced the capture of Mahmoud Ali Ahmad in Aleppo governorate, in the north of the country.
While at the prison Ahmad was part of a special security detachment and later assigned to its notorious Red Section, where political prisoners and opponents were held, tortured and killed.
He is accused of taking part in the torture and execution of prisoners and transporting and burying the bodies of victims in mass graves.
The ministry reiterated its commitment to pursuing all individuals implicated in human rights abuses during the Assad regime, which fell in December last year, the Syrian Arab News Agency reported.
Amnesty International has described Sednaya Prison as a “human slaughterhouse,” where an estimated 30,000 people have been detained since 2011. Of those, only about 6,000 have been released, with the rest still missing.
Syria’s new authorities have initiated a process to close the prison near Damascus which was operated by the Ministry of Defense during the Assad era.
Since December they have invited several Western, UN and rights groups officials to visit the facility and witness the inhumane conditions that detainees endured.
