The EU Parliament Oct. 6 called for the EU to impose sanctions on Iranian officials following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini and the subsequent violence committed against protesters after her death. Amini, an Iranian Kurdish woman, was killed while in custody of Iran's "morality police" after violating the country's strict veiling laws. She died in a Tehran hospital three days after suffering injuries from physical abuse while in custody. "The EU must sanction Iranian officials involved in the regime’s repression," the parliament said. The U.S. and Canada have already designated individuals and entities linked to Amini's death and the later human rights violations committed following her passing (see 2209220029).
Oil exports from Iran have dipped in recent months given greater competition from Russia in the Asian market, Bloomberg reported. Dropping from a peak of 1 million barrels of crude oil exports a day to an average of 750,000 barrels, Iran's exports are dealing with direct competition from Russia in countries such as China. The competition has forced Tehran to constantly review and adjust its prices, Bloomberg said.
Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, urged the Biden administration this week to back away from nuclear deal negotiations with Iran (see 2207120033), saying the U.S. won’t get a “remotely adequate nuclear deal” out of the process. “For months, Iran has deliberately wasted time by keeping the door open for talks while its nuclear program charges forward,” McCaul said in an Aug. 4 statement. “The administration needs to wake up to this farce and pull the plug.”
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The U.K. made took sanctions actions June 14, amending or correcting entries under its Iran (Nuclear), Russia, and ISIL and al-Qaida sanctions regimes. Under the Iran sanctions list, the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation amended the entry for Parvis Fatah, an officer of the Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps. Under the Russia sanctions regime, OFSI amended 39 entries and corrected an additional three, still subjecting all entries to an asset freeze. The 39 entries consist of 23 individuals and 16 entities and include military officials, businesspeople and media figures. The three corrected entries are for Ilya Kiva, former member of the Ukrainian parliament; Maxim Alekseevich Parshin, member of the Donetsk People's Council; and Ooo Volga Group. For the ISIL sanctions list, OFSI amended listing information for Mochammad Achwan, Taha Ibrahim Abdallah Bakr Al Khuwayt, Amir Muhammad Sa'id Abdal-Rahman Al-Salbi, Mounir Ben Dhaou Ben Brahim Ben Helal, Muhammad Sholeh Ibrahim and Aris Sumarsono.
Switzerland dropped Ahmad Zargar, Mohammad Hejazi and Seyyed Hasan Firuzabadi from its Iran sanctions regime, the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs said in a May 24 amendment. The three individuals were also delisted by the EU and the U.K.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control is designating the international oil smuggling and money laundering network led by Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force officials, according to a May 25 news release. The network has overseen the sale of "hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of Iranian oil" for both the IRGC-QF and for Hezbollah, the Treasury Department said. IRGC-QF official Behnam Shahriyari and former IRGC-QF official Rostam Ghasemi head the network, backed by "senior levels of the Russian Federation government and state-run economic organs," Treasury said. The network has acted as a "critical element of Iran’s oil revenue generation," and support for proxy militant groups in the region.
The European Council announced in three separate notices April 28 that a group of non-EU European countries aligned with the union's recent sanctions moves on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine; on Iran; and on Myanmar.
A Texas U.S. district court found that Chinese telecommunications company ZTE Corp. committed visa fraud to get employees in the U.S. Making the determination during a hearing on whether to revoke ZTE's probation for violating sanctions on Iran, Judge Ed Kinkeade of the Northern District of Texas said that the court decided not to revoke it and to resentence ZTE after looking at the evidence (United States v. ZTE Corporation, N.D. Tex. #3:17-00120).
The U.K.'s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation added one entry to its ISIL (Da'esh) and al-Qaida sanctions regime and amended and corrected entires under the Iran (Nuclear) sanctions list in a pair of notices March 8. Under the ISIL sanctions list, OFSI added Khatiba Al-Tawhid Wal-Jihad, a terrorist organization operating under the Al-Nusrah Front for the People of the Levant, which operates mainly in Syria. Under the Iran sanctions regime, OFSI amended the entries for Mohammad Hejazi and the Passive Defence Organisation, and it corrected the entries for Jelvesazan and the Centre for Innovation and Technology Cooperation.