The Council of the European Union on Jan. 29 added six people to its Russia sanctions list for their foreign information manipulation efforts against the EU, and it added seven people to its Sudan sanctions list for the "dramatic escalation of violence" in Darfur and throughout the country.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control on Feb. 2 again extended a general license that continues to delay an exemption that would authorize certain transactions related to Petroleos de Venezuela S.A., Venezuela’s state-owned energy company. General License 5U, which replaced 5T, now authorizes certain transactions with PdVSA involving an 8.5% bond on or after March 20. The previous license was set to allow those transactions to occur on or after Feb. 3.

Officials from the Office of Foreign Assets Control and the U.K.'s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation convened last week in the U.K. as part of an ongoing partnership between the two agencies to share sanctions information and coordinate on enforcement and licensing, OFSI said last week. "The visit has demonstrated the depth and maturity of the UK-US Enhanced Partnership, now entering its fourth year," the agency said. "We had an opportunity to discuss UK-US operational and policy elements, reflecting a shared focus on alignment."

The Center for a New American Security published a dataset last week of all the Treasury Department's Specially Designated National designations and the Commerce Department's Entity List additions between 2017 and 2025, including the name of the entry, the date they were added and other information related to their designations.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control last week removed sanctions on Soltech Industry, a Brunei business organization that it had designated in 2020 for its alleged involvement in the Iranian electronics trade. Soltech pleaded guilty in 2023 to conspiring to violate the Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations, among other crimes, and was ordered to pay a fine of $83,769 and serve a five-year term of corporate probation. DOJ said at the time that Soltech admitted to obtaining U.S. export-controlled goods "for the benefit" of the Iranian government.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control last week sanctioned Iranian officials who it said are involved in the government's violent suppression of protesters and an Iranian investor with ties to the country's oil industry. It also sanctioned two digital asset exchanges linked to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control issued a new general license last week to authorize certain oil-related activities and transactions in Venezuela as the Trump administration looks to incentivize American oil companies to reenter the country (see 2601280059).

The Council of the European Union on Jan. 29 imposed additional sanctions on Iran related to its "serious human rights violations" and continued military support of Russia. The council added 15 people and six entities to its Iran sanctions list, including Eskandar Momeni, Iran's minister of the interior and head of the National Security Council, and various members of Iran's judicial system, including Mohammad Movahedi-Azad, the prosecutor general, and Iman Afshari, a presiding judge. Other individuals include IRGC commanders and "high ranking officers of the police and the Law Enforcement Force." The listed entities include the Iranian Audio-Visual Media Regulatory Authority, Seraj Cyberspace Organization, the Working Group for Determining Instances of Criminal Content and some software companies.

Sanctions compliance teams should prepare for heightened risk in 2026 as Russia’s “dark fleet” continues to expand and adapt despite a growing web of international restrictions, industry officials said during a recent webinar hosted by the Association of Certified Sanctions Specialists.

EU ministers that make up the bloc's Foreign Affairs Council agreed Jan. 29 to label Iran's Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization. Kaja Kallas, the European Commission's foreign affairs chief and president of the Foreign Affairs Council, said the label will place the IRGC "on the same footing with Daesh, Hamas, Hezbollah, al Qaeda," and any "activity or interaction" with the group could be subject to criminal prosecution.