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.

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.

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.

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.

The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control updated the Cuban Assets Control Regulations to eliminate certain transactions that were previously authorized by a general license, OFAC said in a notice. The update also revises and removes certain authorizations for remittances to Cuba. The changes take effect Oct. 9.

The European Union Permanent Representatives Committee will extend sanctions on people and entities designated for threatening the sovereignty of Ukraine, according to a post on the EU Sanctions blog. The extended sanctions are awaiting approval by the EU Council before they expire on Sept. 15, the post said.

The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control is seeking comments on its continuing information collection for its Hizballah Financial Sanctions Regulations Report on Closure by U.S. Financial Institutions of Correspondent Accounts and Payable-Through Accounts, OFAC said in a notice. OFAC is seeking comments about whether the report is “necessary for the proper performance of the functions” of OFAC, the “accuracy of the agency’s estimate of the burden of the collection of information,” ways to “enhance the quality” of the information collection, ways to “minimize the burden of the collection of information on respondents and estimated costs “of services to provide information.” Comments are due Nov. 5.