United States Issues Advisory to Industry on Iran Ballistic Missile Procurement

The Departments of Justice, Commerce, State and Treasury today issued an advisory to alert the international community, private sector and public to the threat posed by Iran’s ballistic missile procurement activities.

The advisory informs private industry of deceptive practices used by Iranian ballistic missile procurement networks, Iran’s ballistic missile-related activities, key goods sought by Iran’s missile program and relevant U.S. sanctions and export control authorities. In addition, the advisory provides and overview on minimizing sanctions and export control risk, including discussion of enforcement efforts by the Justice Department and other agencies. 

Today’s announcement complements ongoing work by the Justice Department, including its the Disruptive Technology Strike Force. The Justice Department and Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) in February created the Disruptive Technology Strike Force, an interagency effort focused on investigating and prosecuting the illicit transfer of sensitive technologies to foreign state adversaries, including Iran.

The announcement further complements recent work by the National Security Division regarding corporate compliance. To encourage corporate disclosures of potential criminal violations of national security laws, including sanctions and export laws, the National Security Division updated its voluntary self-disclosure policy this past March. The Justice Department has also announced the hiring of 25 new prosecutors in the National Security Division to investigate and prosecute sanctions evasion, export control violations and similar economic crimes.

Companies should be aware that Iran relies on foreign input to crease the lethality and accuracy of its ballistic missile systems. Private industry is on the front lines of detecting and denying Iran’s procurement efforts, and it is critical that companies be familiar with the techniques, entities, goods and technologies involved in Iran’s ballistic missile procurement efforts. 

The advisory is available here.