The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned five entities and five people for their involvement in procurement networks for Iran’s military, Treasury said in an Aug. 28 press release. The sanctions target two major networks led by Iranian nationals Hamed Dehghan and Seyed Hossein Shariat.
U.S. and foreign companies have “struggled” to interpret the scope of the U.S.’s most recent executive order and subsequent general licenses for Venezuela, leading some to submit requests for more guidance, according to an Aug. 22 post on the Winston & Strawn website.
The U.S. is not expecting major companies to use INSTEX, the European payment system designed to allow countries to trade with Iran despite U.S. sanctions, said Brian Hook, a State Department senior policy adviser. Hook also said INSTEX will likely never be fully operational.
The United Kingdom’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation updated is sanctions guidance on ISIL (Da’esh) and al-Qaida, the OFSI said Aug. 21. The guidance contains a list of sanctioned persons and recent HM Treasury notices on the terrorist organizations. The most recent notice, dated Aug. 21, includes individuals recently added to a United Nations Security Council Sanctions List (see 1908160019).
A Singapore-based trading firm was charged with shipping luxury goods to North Korea in violation of United Nations sanctions, according to an Aug. 21 post on the EU Sanctions blog. The company, SinSMS Pte. Ltd, was accused of shipping more than $650,000 worth (in Singapore dollars) of wine and spirits in 2016 and 2017 to North Korea through Dalian, China, the post said. The company faces a S$1 million fine. The U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control in 2018 sanctioned SinSMS Pte. and its parent company, Dalian, China-based Sun Moon Star International Logistics Trading Co., for United Nations Security Council violations.
The United Kingdom's Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation on Aug. 21 updated its guidance on the country’s current financial sanctions targets. The guidance includes a list of the country’s asset freeze targets, a guide explaining availability in four different formats of its list of financial sanctions targets, and a list of people subject to sanctions and other restrictive measures due to Russia’s actions in Ukraine.
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control announced sanctions on three Chinese citizens and two Chinese entities for drug trafficking, Treasury said in an Aug. 21 press release. OFAC designated Fujing Zheng and his company, Shanghai-based Zheng Drug Trafficking Organization (Zheng DTO), under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act. OFAC also sanctioned Xiaobing Yan for being a drug trafficker, Guanghua Zheng for supporting Zheng DTO and Shanghai-based Qinsheng Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., for being owned by Zheng.
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned a Dominican Republic-based drug trafficking organization, its owner, supporters and several businesses run by the organization’s owner, Treasury said in an Aug. 20 press release. The sanctions include designations under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act against the Peralta Drug Trafficking Organization, Dominican national Cesar Emilio Peralta, and eight more Dominican nationals for supporting the organization and nightclubs owned by Peralta.
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control released its Biennial Report on Licensing Activities detailing license applications the agency processed for authorization to export to Iran and Sudan. The Aug. 19 report, which covers OFAC actions from October 2014 to September 2016, is mandated by the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000 and covers OFAC applications that request permission to export “agricultural commodities, medicine and medical devices” to Iran and Sudan. The report includes the number of applications OFAC received, issued and denied. OFAC requested public comments on the TSRA’s licensing procedures in 2018 and said it received one comment that pointed to the “difficulties in using the financial mechanisms in place for making payments related to transactions” under the TSRA.
Gibraltar's recent release of an Iranian oil tanker that had been seized by British authorities in July for potential sanctions violations came despite requests from the U.S. to continue to detain the ship, according to a statement released Aug. 18 by the United Kingdom territory.