The Office of Foreign Assets Control last week sanctioned nine Iranian shadow fleet vessels and their owners or management firms after it said they collectively transported hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of Iranian oil and petroleum products to foreign markets. OFAC also issued a general license to authorize certain safety- and environmental-related transactions with the ships.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned five Costa Ricans and five Costa Rica-based entities after accusing them of narcotics trafficking and money laundering, including through the shipment of cocaine through Colombia to the U.S. and Europe.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on Jan. 21 released its quarterly report on certain licensing activities for Iran, covering July-September 2025. The reports provide licensing statistics for exports of agricultural goods, medicine and medical devices as required by the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control removed sanctions this week on a ship owner and its vessel two months after accusing both of moving sanctioned Iranian oil.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned seven organizations that it accused of purporting to provide medical care to Palestinians or support Palestinians abroad but that actually have ties to the terror group Hamas. OFAC also designated a senior official with one of the organizations.
Blank Rome said last week that it helped a client with his removal from the Office of Foreign Assets Control's Foreign Sanctions Evaders List. The client was designated in February 2019 "in connection with U.S. sanctions on Iran," the firm said, and his delisting "marks a significant milestone and concludes a multi‑year effort to restore his standing and remove related restrictions."
The Office of Foreign Assets Control last week sanctioned 21 people and entities, along with one vessel, for helping to move oil, weapons and dual-use goods for the Iran-backed Houthis. The designations targeted what OFAC said are "financial conduits" between the Iranian government and the Houthis, as well as "front companies, facilitators, and operatives" in Yemen, Oman and the United Arab Emirates that are part of the Houthis’ "vast revenue generation and smuggling networks."
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned Iranian security officials involved in the country's violent crackdown on protesters, and it also designated people and entities that it said help launder revenue from Iranian petroleum and petrochemical sales as part of a “shadow banking” network of sanctioned Iranian financial institutions.
The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission published a primer this week on China's relationship with Venezuela, including details about China's purchases of Venezuelan oil despite U.S. sanctions. The commission said China has become the "primary destination" for sanctioned Venezuelan oil, and Beijing uses sanctions evasion measures "similar to those it uses to import oil from other sanctioned countries like Iran and Russia, including transshipment, bartering, and 'shadow fleet' tankers with opaque ownership." Although the U.S. has sanctioned Chinese entities for cyber and surveillance operations in Venezuela, the report said designations against Chinese parties under Venezuela-related sanctions programs "had been exceedingly rare" until December, when the Office of Foreign Assets Control targeted four Chinese companies and their vessels for operating in Venezuela's oil sector (see 2512310074).
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week extended a Russia-related general license that authorizes certain transactions for the negotiation of and entry into contingent contracts for the sale of Lukoil International GmbH -- the international business of Russian energy firm Lukoil -- and related maintenance activities. General License 131B, which replaces 131A, now expires at 12:01 a.m. ET Feb. 28. The license was scheduled to expire Jan. 17.