Page 89 - ΝΑΥΤΙΚΑ ΧΡΟΝΙΚΑ - ΜΑΙΟΣ 2024

GEOPOLITICS siles against Israel on the night of Saturday, 18
to Sunday, 19 April, almost all of which were
intercepted in flight.
NEW AMERICAN AND BRITISH Tehran portrayed the attack as a retaliation for
SANCTIONS ON IRAN a deadly strike targeting the Iranian consulate
On Thursday, 18 April, the United States and in Damascus in early April, attributed to Israel.
Britain imposed sanctions on Iran, targeting
“Teheran’s drone programme, steel industry, and SHIPYARDS: A PERMANENT SOURCE OF
auto industry” following the country’s recent CONFLICT BETWEEN THE US AND CHINA
attacks on Israel. The dispute between the US and China over the
The US Treasury Department said in a statement maritime supply chain is deepening, with Beijing
that Washington’s sanctions target “16 individ- strongly opposing Washington’s investigation
uals and two entities involved in the production into the Chinese shipbuilding industry, calling
of Iranian drones, including the Shahed that ena- the move a “mistake on top of a mistake”.
bled the 13 April attack". In an official statement late on Wednesday, 17
They also involve three subsidiaries of the Ira- April, China’s Ministry of Commerce said the
nian automaker Bahman Group and the Iranian US provides hundreds of billions of dollars in
Ministry of Defense. subsidies to its domestic industries, “yet it
US President Joe Biden said the United States accuses China of adopting so-called unfair
will continue to hold Iran accountable with the practices".
new sanctions and export controls against it. The Chinese ministry also emphasised that “In
These latest sanctions are intended to “restrain fact, the development of China’s industries is
Iran’s destabilising military programmes, the result of companies’ technological innova-
according to the White House statement. tion and active participation in competition”.
As for London’s sanctions, they target “numer- Earlier, Washington had initiated a new inves-
ous Iranian military organisations, individuals tigation into China’s logistics and shipyards,
and entities involved in Iran’s drone and ballistic accusing the Asian country of unfair and illicit
missile industries,” the finance ministry said. practices in order to dominate the market.
Iran launched more than 350 drones and mis-

85