The Biden administration added 24 companies and other entities to an export control list due to nuclear activities along with supplying an Iranian electronics company or supporting Russia’s military or defence industrial base. The entities were added due to US national security and foreign policy concerns, according to the Commerce Department. They are based in Latvia, Pakistan, Russia, Singapore, and Switzerland.
Fiber Optic Solutions in Latvia, which manufactures fibre optic gyroscopes and other equipment, and Russia’s AO Kraftway Corporation PSC, which bills itself as one of the largest Russian IT companies, are among the companies involved. According to the company, it develops and sells a wide range of IT solutions, including hardware manufacturing. Russian AO Scientific Research Center for Electronic Computing, LLC Fibersense, and Scientific Production Company Optolin are also on the list, as are AO PKK Milandr; Milandr EK OOO; Milandr ICC JSC; Milur IS, OOO; (OOO) Microelectronic Production Complex (MPK) Milandr; and Ruselectronics JSC, as well as Swiss-based Milur SA.
The Commerce Department also added four Singapore trading and supply companies for supplying or attempting to supply Pardazan System Namad Arman (PASNA), an Iranian electronics company sanctioned by the US Treasury in 2018.
Read More: Myanmar grounds its Pak-China developed JF-17 Thunder fleet
The Biden administration also added ten Pakistani and UAE-based companies that it claims pose unacceptable risks of using or diverting items for Pakistan’s unprotected nuclear activities or are involved in Pakistan’s “nuclear activities and missile proliferation-related activities.”
There was no immediate response from any of the companies. Since Moscow invaded Ukraine in February, the US has used export controls and the entity list to punish companies for their military support of Russia and to restrict the flow of foreign technology to Russia.3
Before shipping to companies on the list, suppliers of US goods must obtain a difficult-to-obtain licence.
