WASHINGTON: A Pakistani citizen, Arif Ali Durrani, is among more than a dozen foreigners and entities the US sanctioned this week to stop transfers of advanced weaponry to and from Iran and Syria.

The sanction list, announced on Monday, includes the Syrian navy and air force, Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement and firms from China, Malaysia, Mexico and Singapore. They are accused of selling to or buying from those governments missile technology or material to make weapons of mass destruction.

Mr Durrani, the only Pakistani on the list, was arrested at Los Angeles airport on June 15, 2005, and was charged with two counts of violating the Arms Export Control Act.

The indictment alleged that in 1994, Mr Durrani illegally exported more than 100 compressor blades for the General Electric J-85 military aircraft engine through his now defunct company, Lonestar Aerospace. Mr Durrani had a previous 1987 conviction for illegally exporting HAWK missile components to Iran.

US officials say that after Mr Durrani served his sentence, he began living in Mexico. Mexican authorities arrested him on June 12, 2005, for illegal entry.