The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has announced economic sanctions against six “entities” (businesses and individuals that it accuses of supporting Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The companies are based in China, Russia, India, and Iran.

The IRGC is Iran’s military and one of the most powerful forces in the country. The new sanctions focus on two Iranian companies. Mahan Air is a privately-owned Iranian airline which OFAC accuses of being “the IRGC’s airline of choice for moving weapons, military personnel, and equipment,” including drones. DadeNegar Startup Studio is a tech company which OFAC accuses of being an IRGC front that has solicited the locations of American and Israeli equipment for the IRGC to target. DadeNegar did this by crowd-sourcing the information with a web site open to the public, obtaining the data for free. The sanctions are part of the US-Iran War, which is in its sixth month.

OFAC says that China‑based Tang Xin, who is the managing director of Shanghai Wings Logistics Company, has coordinated travel for Mahan Air. Tang Xin is also the executive director and 50 percent owner of Shanghai Elite International Travel Company. OFAC says that Tang and Shanghai Wings have “assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, Mahan Air,” by moving troops and weapons. India-based Skiez Travels and Logistics Private Limited and Russia-based Air Cargo Pro Limited have served as Mahan Air’s general sales agents in their respective countries. Shanghai Elite has been sanctioned for “being owned, controlled, or directed by, or having acted or purported to act for on behalf of, directly or indirectly, Tang Xin.”

OFAC says that the sanctions are authorized under Executive Order 13224, as amended. President Bush signed the order shortly after the terrorist attacks on the US on September 11, 2001. The order authorizes the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury and the US Attorney General, to designate foreign entities as being involved in terrorism. It blocks the property and interests of designated entities and prohibits American citizens from transacting with them without permission.