US Treasury Dep't Sanctions Iranians, Chinese, HK Over Hypersonic Missiles

(MNI) London - The US Treasury Department Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has sanctioned seven individuals and six entities in relation to Iran's hypersonic ballistic missile programme. The sanctioned individuals/entities are based in Iran, China and Hong Kong. Al Arabiya reports that "the Treasury Department also sanctioned Iran’s defense attaché in Beijing for coordinating military-related procurements from China for Iranian end-users."

• Iran presentedwhat it calls its first hypersonic ballistic missile earlier on 6 June, in a development that will garner notable interest in Israel and Western capitals. Given that Iran is seen as getting perilously close to enriching uranium to weapons-grade purity, the development of a missile that is difficult to detect and shoot down will raise security concerns among Iran's adversaries (despite it being unclear if the Fattah hypersonic missile would be capable of carrying a nuclear payload).