The United States has announced economic sanctions against five individuals and seven entities based in Iran, China, and Hong Kong for their involvement in supplying components intended for the construction of drones for Iran, amidst escalating tensions in the Middle East.

“Iran’s acquisition of essential missile and drone components continues to enable the proliferation of its weapons systems to its proxies in the Middle East and Russia,” stated the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

“The reckless proliferation by Iran of its ballistic missiles and drones risks exacerbating instability and threats and endangering the lives of civilians both in the region and globally,” said Brian Nelson, the Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence.

The official also mentioned “additional front companies and trusted agents through which Iran has sought to obtain these components,” including accelerometers and gyroscopes.

For months, Hezbollah has been intensively using drones to attack Israeli military positions, generally near the borders but sometimes deeper within Israel.

Hezbollah also announced three times that it had sent surveillance drones to film sensitive Israeli targets, including the Ramat David airbase in central Israel on July 23.