The Office of Foreign Assets Control is modifying its North Korea sanctions regulations to amend a general license for humanitarian activities carried out by non-governmental organizations in North Korea. The agency also is adding three new general licenses for Commerce Department-authorized transactions, agricultural and medical goods, and some journalistic activities, it said.
The U.K. will allow a general license involving the price cap on Russian oil to expire later this month, according to the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation. The license, set to expire Feb. 18, authorizes the supply or delivery by ship of Russian crude oil and oil products below the $60 per barrel price cap. The U.K. didn't provide more information.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned four entities and identified one vessel for violating the price cap on Russian oil. OFAC said they were involved in a “price cap violation scheme” in late 2023 that included making calls at Russian ports.
The U.K. on Feb. 6 extended by six months its general license authorizing certain humanitarian-related transactions under its Syria sanctions regime. The exemption will now run through Aug. 14 and allows humanitarian organizations, including the U.N., to carry out humanitarian activity in Syria needed to deliver earthquake relief in Syria and Turkey.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned two companies with ties to the Myanmar military along with four of their “cronies” for helping the regime fund itself. The designations were announced days after the U.S. updated its Myanmar business advisory (see 2401300010) and mark the three-year anniversary of the country’s military coup, which sparked multiple rounds of sanctions and export controls by the U.S. and its allies (see 2310310028, 2306210017, 2303240024 and 2107020003).
The U.S. is reversing the sanctions relief it gave to Venezuela last year after finding the Nicolas Maduro-led regime has failed to take steps to hold free and fair elections, which has included barring the opposition candidate from participating in the elections and arresting members of the opposition party.
Behrouz Mokhtari of McLean, Virginia, and Tehran pleaded guilty Jan. 9 to two conspiracies to violate U.S. sanctions on Iran "by engaging in business activities on behalf of Iranian entities" without getting a license from the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, DOJ announced Jan. 9. Mokhtari will forfeit money, property and assets obtained from the schemes, including a Campbell, California, home, and a money judgment of over $2.8 million, DOJ said. The defendant faces a maximum of five years in prison for each of the two conspiracy counts.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned an Iraqi airline, its CEO and others with ties to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force. The agency said they have helped to deliver shipments to the IRGC-QF or have helped launder money and support Kata’ib Hizballah, an IRGC-QF militia in Iraq.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week renewed a Russia-related general license that authorizes certain transactions involving the Russian Federation's Central Bank, Wealth Fund and Ministry of Finance. General License No. 13H, which replaced 13G, now authorizes those transactions, including taxes, fees, or import duties, through 12:01 a.m. EDT April 17. The license was set to expire Jan. 31.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned United Arab Emirates-based shipping company Hennesea Holdings Limited for violating the price cap on Russian oil. OFAC also added 17 previously undesignated vessels owned by Hennesea to its Specially Designated Nationals List and redesignated one vessel, the HS Atlantica, which the agency first sanctioned in December for illegally moving Russian oil (see 2312010023).