The U.S. sanctioned six Chinese and Hong Kong officials involved in implementing Beijing’s so-called national security law in Hong Kong (see 2007140068), the State Department said Jan. 15. The sanctions target You Quan, vice chairman of the Central Leading Group on Hong Kong and Macau Affairs; Sun Wenqing, deputy director of the Office for Safeguarding National Security in Hong Kong; and Tam Yiu-Chung, Hong Kong delegate to the National People’s Congress Standing Committee. Other sanctions target officials in the National Security Division of the Hong Kong Police: Frederic Choi Chin-Pang, Kelvin Kong Hok Lai and Andrew Kan Kai Yan. The sanctions were issued in response to the Jan. 6 arrest of more than 50 pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control on Jan. 14 issued a new general license and several new frequently asked questions to provide guidance on President Donald Trump’s November executive order to ban U.S. investment in Chinese military companies (see 2011130026). General License No. 2 authorizes certain transactions and activities involving publicly traded securities of certain entities on OFAC’s Chinese military companies list (see 2012290017). Transactions with companies added to OFAC’s list after 12:01 a.m. EST Jan. 14 are authorized through 12:01 a.m. Eastern time on the date that is 365 days after the date the entity was added to OFAC’s list.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned three people and 16 entities controlled by Iran’s supreme leader, OFAC said Jan. 13. The entities allow Iran’s “elite to sustain a corrupt system of ownership over large parts of Iran’s economy,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement. The sanctions target Iran’s Execution of Imam Khomeini’s Order (EIKO), Astan Quds Razavi (AQR) and their subsidiaries, including companies in the energy, engineering and drilling sectors. Also sanctioned are EIKO leader Mohammad Mokhber, AQR leader Ahmad Marvi and Abd al-Aziz Malluh Mirjirash al-Muhammadawi, who has ties to the Islamic State group.

The European Union said it is concerned about Iran’s continued action to engage in uranium enrichment to up to 20% but is hopeful that U.S. President-elect Joe Biden will help mend the nuclear deal. Although the latest move, which the International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed last week, continues to violate the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the EU did not say it would impose sanctions for the breach, adding that it has “continued to work hard to preserve” the agreement despite U.S. sanctions. “We acknowledge the issues arising from the unilateral withdrawal of the United States from the agreement and the re-imposition of its sanctions,” the European Council said Jan. 11. “The EU has upheld its JCPoA commitments, including regarding sanctions lifting as foreseen in the Agreement.” The council said it welcomes Biden’s “positive statements” on the JCPOA and looks “forward to working with the incoming US-Administration.”

The State Department sanctioned five al-Qaida leaders and added them to the Treasury Department’s Specially Designated Nationals List, the agency said Jan. 12. The sanctions target Iran-based Muhammad Abbatay and Sultan Yusuf Hasan al-'Arif. Also sanctioned were the leaders of the al-Qaida Kurdish Battalions, an al-Qaida-linked group that operates on the Iran-Iraq border: Isma’il Fu’ad Rasul Ahmed, Fuad Ahmad Nuri Ali al-Shakhan and Niamat Hama Rahim Hama Sharif.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control issued a general license authorizing certain transactions involving securities of companies affiliated with the Chinese military. General License No. 1, issued Jan. 8, authorizes certain transactions involving publicly traded securities with an entity with a name that “closely” matches the name of a company identified in President Donald Trump’s November executive order (see 2011130026) but that has not yet been identified on OFAC’s Chinese military companies list (see 2012290017). The authorization also applies to transactions involving “any securities that are derivative of” those publicly traded securities or “designed to provide investment exposure to such securities.” The transactions are authorized through 9:30 a.m. EST Jan. 28.

The United Kingdom’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation updated general licenses under its counterterrorism licensing policy, a Jan. 11 notice said. The U.K. revoked three general licenses and revoked and replaced one general license related to “legal aid.” The legal aid license allows certain agencies and bodies to make payments relating to “legal services” to sanctioned people.

The State Department said Jan. 10 it will notify Congress of the agency’s intent to designate Ansarallah -- also known as the Houthis -- as a foreign terrorist organization. The agency also designated three of the group’s leaders -- Abdul Malik al-Houthi, Abd al-Khaliq Badr al-Din al-Houthi and Abdullah Yahya al Hakim -- as specially designated global terrorists. The State Department said it will “put in place” measures to minimize the sanctions’ impact on humanitarian imports into Yemen. The Treasury Department will provide humanitarian-related licenses and guidance for certain transactions and activities conducted by both the U.S. government and nongovernmental organizations, State said.

The State Department designated Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism, the agency said Jan. 11. Cuba's designation, which was lifted in 2015 by the Obama administration, will reimpose export restrictions on shipments of certain arms and dual-use items to the island, along with other trade prohibitions and restrictions. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Cuba has “broken” its commitment to stop supporting terrorism as a condition of the 2015 designation removal. The move was met with criticism from at least one Senate Democrat, with Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., who called it a “blatantly politicized designation.” Leahy added that “domestic terrorism in the United States poses a far greater threat to Americans than Cuba does.”

The Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned seven people and four entities involved in a Russia-linked influence network aimed at influencing U.S. elections, OFAC said Jan. 11. The designations target former Ukrainian government officials Konstantin Kulyk, Oleksandr Onyshchenko, Andriy Telizhenko and current Ukraine Parliament member Oleksandr Dubinsky. OFAC also sanctioned NabuLeaks and Era-Media TOV, media companies in Ukraine that “push false narratives,” and Petro Zhuravel, who owns designated media disinformation companies Only News and Skeptik TOV. Also designated were Dmytro Kovalchuk and Anton Simonenko, who work closely with Andrii Derkach, a sanctioned Russian agent. Senate Finance Committee ranking member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., released a statement on the move, saying: “The decision to impose sanctions on Andriy Telizhenko for his role in these efforts is welcome and long overdue. By imposing sanctions on Telizhenko, the Trump administration confirms that Senate Republicans’ year-long investigation was based on Russian disinformation. In fact, Chairmen [Ron] Johnson [of Wisconsin, who chairs the Homeland Security Committee] and [Chuck] Grassley [of Iowa, the Finance Committee] cited Mr. Telizhenko 42 times in the letters sent as part of this investigation, and ignored repeated warnings to not give credibility to disinformation.”