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 U.K. on Feb. 6 amended the entry for Oleg Alexandrovich Mashtalyar under its Russia sanctions regime. The entry was revised to reflect that Mashtalyar no longer works as the vice chairman of the management board of Sovcombank, a Russian bank. Mashtalyar, who is still sanctioned, was originally designated for operating in Russia's financial services sector.
Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-Mich., welcomed the Biden administration’s recent decision to reimpose sanctions on Venezuela after the country’s supreme court barred opposition leader Maria Corina Machado from this year’s presidential election (see 2401300014).
President Joe Biden extended a national emergency that authorizes sanctions against people and entities in Myanmar, the White House said Feb. 7. The “situation” resulting from the military coup in 2021 continues to pose a threat to U.S. national security and foreign policy, the White House said. The emergency was extended for one year beyond Feb. 10.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned an Ecuadorian gang and its leader for their ties to drug trafficking and violence.
The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls has completed a round of interagency review for a new final rule that could add to its list of proscribed countries under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations. Those countries are generally subject to an export license review policy of denial. DDTC sent the rule for interagency review Jan. 12 (see 2401160017), and the review was completed Feb. 5.
The Bureau of Industry and Security has drafted and on Feb. 4 sent for interagency review an interim final rule to revise its export licensing requirements for certain firearms shipments. BIS in October announced a 90-day suspension of license applications for new gun exports (see 2310270068, 2310300043 and 2311200009). A draft document leaked in December purports to show some of the export control changes under consideration (see 2312260039).
The U.K. government faced pressure from Parliament this week about whether it failed to sanction companies owned by Iran’s state-backed petrochemicals firm, allowing it to evade western restrictions by maintaining accounts with at least two London banks. Members of Parliament called for an investigation and said the government may need more sanctions enforcement resources.
A U.K. citizen was sentenced to 18 months in prison Jan. 31 for violating U.S. sanctions on Iran by exporting and attempting to export dual-use goods to Iran without the required license.
The Treasury Department has been too slow to propose regulations for a congressionally mandated sanctions whistleblower program, a group of bipartisan senators said this week, calling the agency’s lack of progress “unacceptable.”