Sanctions target business network
The US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned 10 individuals and entities across multiple jurisdictions over alleged procurement of weapons and weapons components for Iran’s Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics, known as MODAFL. Among them are Pakistani businessman Wasim Pasha Tajammal, chairman of private defense company Cavalier Group, and three companies connected to him.
The Treasury alleged Tajammal and Cavalier Group acted as third-party intermediaries for MODAFL. It said Tajammal used professional contacts to help Iran procure and distribute weapons, and alleged he provided, or tried to provide, financial, material or technological support, or goods and services, to the organization. The department’s account describes allegations; the announcement doesn’t state that a court has established them.
According to the Treasury, MODAFL handles weapons research, production and acquisition for Iran’s armed forces. The ministry also oversees organizations involved in developing Iran’s ballistic missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles, the department said.
Companies across three countries
Tajammal is the majority shareholder and CEO of Cavalier Dynamics Private Limited in Pakistan. He’s also a director of Cavalier Dynamics for Technologies Company in Saudi Arabia, wholly owned by the Pakistani firm, and a director and sole shareholder of Cavalier Dynamics Teknoloji Ticaret Anonim Sirketi in Turkey.
The Treasury said it coordinated its action against the Saudi Arabia-based company with Saudi authorities and partners. The announcement named three companies connected to Tajammal, but the supplied details don’t specify the names of the other sanctioned individuals or entities.
Cavalier Group calls itself a prominent defense company in Pakistan’s private sector and Pakistan’s “only multi-domain defense company,” according to its website. It says it aims to provide locally developed critical defense solutions to Pakistan’s armed forces and works with allied countries and partners worldwide.
A message from Tajammal on the company website says the business operates across land, air, information technology and cyber domains. Cavalier Group lists combat vehicles, small arms, ballistic protection equipment, tactical gear, drones, system automation and cybersecurity solutions among its products and services.
Washington warns of further penalties
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a press release that the department would keep targeting people and entities it says support Iran’s government. “Under Operation Economic Outcast, Treasury will continue to target and disrupt those who provide material, technological, or financial support that allows the Iranian regime to sustain its terrorist enterprise,” he said. “Treasury won’t tolerate any support to the regime and will continue to identify, expose, and isolate Iran’s enablers.”
Bessent announced Operation Economic Outcast on August 24, 2026. The Treasury dubbed it “Economic D-Day,” describing its aim as severing the remaining economic lifelines sustaining the Iranian regime.
The department said it had mapped networks, facilitators and financial channels Iran uses to smuggle oil, evade sanctions and fund terrorism. It said it was working with partners across the US government, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Gulf countries and others to target what it calls sources of the regime’s illicit revenue.
The Treasury warned that entities facilitating money laundering or sanctions evasion for Iran risk losing access to the US financial system. It also highlighted the risk of secondary sanctions for those continuing to do business with the Iranian regime and said it would accelerate US enforcement efforts.