The Treasury Department said the founder of a laser technology company headquartered in Massachusetts should not have been included in a 2018 report to Congress that was aimed at informing sanctions decisions, according to a Sept. 11 letter from Treasury. Valentin Gapontsev, founder of IPG Photonics, was listed as a Russian oligarch in a report that Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin was required to submit to Congress as part of the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act. The report contained a list of Russian oligarchs and officials that had the potential of facing U.S. sanctions. Gapontsev was born in Moscow, and founded IPG in 1990 in Russia; with a slight name change, IPG Photonics established headquarters in Oxford, Massachusetts, in 1998, according to information found online.

The Congressional Research Service released a report Sept. 11 on U.S. sanctions on Iran, detailing how sanctions are used within the Trump administration, the impact of the U.S.’s withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action and more. The 110-page report includes information on how sanctions are triggered; what type of trade between the two countries is allowed; detailed descriptions of U.S. sanctions on Iran’s oil, energy and military sectors; an overview of European sanctions on Iran; and possible future sanctions.

Iran violated international sanctions by reneging on promises to Britain that it would not use a previously seized oil tanker to deliver oil to Syria, the United Kingdom said in a Sept. 10 press release. The U.K. said it is “now clear that Iran has breached these assurances” and shipped the oil to Syria’s Bashar al-Assad regime.

The State Department issued a notice correcting the effective date of sanctions announced in July against a Chinese state-owned oil company and its director. The sanctions, imposed against Zhuhai Zhenrong and director Youmin Li, took effect July 22, changing the original effective date of Sept. 16, the State Department said. The company was sanctioned for buying oil from Iran (see 1908150040).

President Donald Trump discussed removing sanctions on Iran to help schedule a meeting with Iran's President Hassan Rouhani later this month, Bloomberg reported Sept. 11. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin was in favor of the move as a way to restart negotiations with Iran, the report said, but then-National Security Adviser John Bolton argued against it. Bolton resigned one day later.

The State Department sanctioned two Russian officials for human rights violations, the agency said in a Sept. 10 press release. The officials, Vladimir Petrovich Yermolayev, the head of the Investigative Committee in Surgut, Russia, and Stepan Vladimirovich Tkach, a senior investigator for the committee, were involved in the torture of Jehovah’s Witnesses in the city, the press release said.

Britain's Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation issued two reports on Sept. 5 on the country’s asset-freezing regime. The first report covers U.K. sanctions from January through March and the second report covers sanctions from April through June. The reports include the total value of assets that were frozen during the two quarters as well as statistics on new designations, delistings and licenses.

Britain's Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation on Sept. 5 issued a guidance on complying with frozen-assets reporting. The guidance includes information on how people or companies should report sanctioned property and how companies should conduct “ongoing compliance” to ensure they’re not violating sanctions laws.

The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control issued a general license authorizing certain transactions with Venezuela and amended a Venezuela-related Frequently Asked Question, OFAC said in a Sept. 9 notice. General License No. 34 allows certain transactions with Venezuelan government officials if they are U.S. citizens, residents, have U.S. visas or are former Venezuelan government employees. The FAQ, number 680, is amended to address GL 34 implications and deals with which transactions with Venezuelan government employees are blocked.

The State Department sanctioned Liviu Nicolae Dragnea, the former speaker of the Romanian Chamber of Deputies, for involvement in “significant corruption,” according to a Sept. 5 press release. The State Department is also sanctioning Dragnea’s two children: Valentin Stefan Dragnea and Maria Alexandra Dragnea.