The U.S. is ending a sanctions waiver for an Iranian nuclear site and plans to sanction certain Iraqi officials, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Nov. 18. Pompeo said the U.S. will be ending the waiver for the Fordow nuclear facility on Dec. 15. The waiver, which allows certain activities related to the nuclear plant, will be terminated due to Iran beginning uranium enrichment activities at the plant, Pompeo said. “The right amount of uranium enrichment for the world’s largest state sponsor of terror is zero,” he said. “The United States rejects this approach completely and calls on all nations to do the same.”

A Virginia-based information technology company may have violated U.S. sanctions in 2017, the company said in a quarterly filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission for the period ended on Sept. 30. The company, DXC Technology, said it voluntarily disclosed possible violations to the Office of Foreign Assets Control stemming from “insurance premium data and claims data” processed by two partially owned joint ventures of Xchanging, a London technology company that DXC acquired in 2017. DXC also sent a copy of the disclosure to the United Kingdom’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation. The company said it is “finalizing its internal investigation” of the violations and plans to give OFAC more information in early 2020.

A South American airline may have violated U.S. sanctions against Cuba, the airline said in an October filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Avianca Holdings said it recently became subject to U.S. sanctions regulations when its parent company, Synergy Aerospace Corp., conducted a 2018 share-transfer with a Delaware-based company “wholly-owned” by Synergy, the filings said. Soon after the transfer, Avianca said it discovered its “regularly scheduled” flights between Central and South America and Cuba were subject to U.S. laws and may have violated the U.S. Cuban Assets Control Regulations.

The United Kingdom's Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation updated its Iran sanctions to correct identifying information for Mehr Bank, OFSI said Nov. 18. Mehr Bank is still subject to sanctions.

The State Department added five sub-entities to the Cuba Restricted List, according to a Nov. 19 notice. The entities include: Grand Aston Cayo Las Brujas Beach Resort and Spa, Gran Muthu Imperial Hotel, Gran Muthu Rainbow Hotel, Gran Hotel Bristol Kempinski and the Grand Aston Varadero Resort. The move blocks all direct financial transactions with the entities because they would “disproportionately benefit” Cuba’s military and security services, the State Department said in a press release.

The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned four people and five entities related to financial, procurement and recruitment networks for ISIS, Treasury said in a Nov. 18 press release. The people and entities are located in Turkey and Afghanistan. The sanctioned parties include Sahloul Money Exchange Company, Al-Sultan Money Transfer Company, Tawasul Company, Ismail Bayaltun, Ahmet Bayaltun, ACL Ithalat Ihracat, Nejaat Social Welfare Organization, Sayed Habib Ahmad Khan and Rohullah Wakil.

The Congressional Research Service issued a report Nov. 15 on Iran sanctions, detailing the Trump administration's maximum pressure campaign and Europe’s efforts to keep trade flowing to the country, and providing an overview of the current state of restrictive measures against Iran. The report also contains an appendix of all sanctions imposed against Iran by the U.S., the United Nations, the European Union and others.

The State Department sanctioned Julio Cesar Gandarilla Bermejo, Cuba’s minister of the interior, for human rights violations in Venezuela, the agency said in a Nov. 16 press release. State also sanctioned Bermejo’s children, Julio Cesar Gandarilla Sarmiento and Alejandro Gandarilla Sarmiento.

The U.S. is continuing its national emergency and sanctions against Iran, the White House said Nov. 12. The extension, which will continue the sanctions for one year beyond the anniversary date of Nov. 14, renews an executive order that blocked Iranian government property. The original executive order was declared in 1979. The U.S. renewed the national emergency because its relations “have not yet normalized,” the White House said.

The U.S. is continuing a national emergency that authorizes sanctions against proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, the White House said Nov. 12. The White House said weapons proliferation “continues to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat” to U.S. national security. The national emergency was extended one year.