The United States today announced financial sanctions against five individuals and seven entities based in Iran, China and Hong Kong for their involvement in the supply of drone components to Iran in an escalation of tension in the Middle East.

“Iran’s acquisition of key missile components and unmanned aircraft continues to allow the proliferation of its weapons systems to its proxies in the Middle East and Russia,” the US Treasury Department said.

“Iran’s reckless proliferation of its ballistic missiles and drones risks exacerbating instability and threat, and endangering civilian lives, both in the region and globally,” said the undersecretary of finance for international affairs. Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson.

The official then spoke of “additional front companies and trusted agents through which Iran sought to obtain these components,” including accelerometers and gyroscopes.

For months Hezbollah has been making heavy use of drones to attack Israeli military positions, generally near the border but sometimes deeper inside Israel.

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