The U.S. Treasury onFriday announced sanctions against 10 individuals and companies,including several in China and Hong Kong, over accusations theyaided Iran's efforts to secure weapons and the raw materialsneeded to build its Shahed drones and ballistic missiles.

The Treasury move, first reported by Reuters, comes daysbefore U.S. President Donald Trump plans to travel to China fora meeting with President Xi Jinping and as efforts to end thewar with Iran have stalled.

In a statement, Treasury said it remained ready to takeeconomic action against Iran's military industrial base toprevent Tehran from reconstituting its production capacity.

Treasury said it was also prepared to act against anyforeign company supporting illicit Iranian commerce, includingairlines, and could impose secondary sanctions on foreignfinancial institutions that aid Iran's efforts, including thoseconnected to China's independent "teapot" oil refineries.

Brett Erickson, managing principal at Obsidian RiskAdvisors, said Treasury's actions were aimed at cracking down onIran's ability to threaten ships operating in the Strait ofHormuz and regional allies.

Iran shut the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow chokepoint betweenIran and Oman through which a fifth of the world's ​crude oiland liquefied natural gas passes, after the U.S. and Israelattacked a large number of targets in Iran on February 28.Shipping through the crucial waterway has ground to a near ⁠haltsince the war began, sending energy prices sharply higher.

Iran is a major drone manufacturer and has the industrialcapacity to produce around 10,000 a month, according to theBritish government-fund Centre for Information Resilience.

Erickson said the sanctions were still narrowly focused,giving Iran more time to adapt and reroute procurement to othersuppliers. Treasury was also not yet going after Chinese banksthat were keeping Iran's economy going, he added.

The companies facing sanctions include:

* China-based Yushita Shanghai International Trade Co Ltdfor facilitating acquisition efforts for Iran to purchaseweapons from China.

* Dubai-based Elite Energy FZCO for transferring millions ofdollars to a Hong Kong company to aid the procurement effort.

* Hong Kong-based HK Hesin Industry Co Ltd and Belarus-basedArmory Alliance LLC for working as intermediaries in theprocurements.

* Hong Kong-based Mustad Ltd for facilitating weaponprocurement by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

* Iran-based Pishgam Electronic Safeh Co for procuringmotors used in drones.

* China-based Hitex Insulation Ningbo Co Ltd for supplyingmaterials used in ballistic missiles.(Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Rod Nickel and RosalbaO'Brien)