The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned Iran’s Armed Forces General Staff and nine government appointees of Iranian leader Ali Khamenei, Treasury said Nov. 4. The sanctions target officials in Khamenei’s office, the country’s Expediency Council and the judiciary, Treasury said.
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control extended the expiration dates of two Ukraine General Licenses and expanded an authorization for certain activities, OFAC said in a Nov. 1 notice. General License No. 13M and No. 15G, replacing No. 13L and No. 15F, respectively, extend the expiration date of authorized transactions necessary to the wind-down of operations with GAZ Group until March 31, 2020. No. 15G also expands authorizations for certain “safety-related activity” and introduces a new authorization for “certain activities to comply with environmental regulatory requirements,” OFAC said.
The U.S. is continuing sanctions against the Sudanese government because of a continued national security threat to the U.S., the White House said Oct. 31. The White House said “despite recent developments, the crisis” in Sudan has not been resolved. The national emergency with respect to Sudan was first declared Nov. 3, 1997.
The State Department imposed sanctions on Iran’s construction and nuclear sector, restricting sales of certain items, according to an Oct. 31 press release.
The Terrorist Financing Targeting Center announced joint sanctions on 25 people, banks and entities affiliated with Iranian terrorism groups in the center’s “largest joint designation to date,” the Treasury Department said in an Oct. 30 press release. The TFTC -- composed of the U.S., Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar -- sanctioned a “vast network” of businesses funding the Basij Resistance Force and people associated with Hizballah, Treasury said.
The United Kingdom Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation announced a penalty of about $180,000 on a telecommunication service provider for violations of European Union sanctions on Syria, according to an Oct. 28 notice. The company, Telia Carrier UK, “indirectly facilitated” phone calls to SyriaTel, an EU-sanctioned entity, OFSI said. The calls led to the “company repeatedly making funds and economic resources indirectly available to the designated entity over an extended period of time,” the notice said.
The State Department designated Zimbabwe’s minister of state for national security, Owen Ncube, for human rights violations, the State Department said Oct. 25. The State Department said it is “deeply troubled” by the Zimbabwean government’s use of violence against peaceful protestors and the opposition party. The designation means Ncube may not enter the U.S.
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control amended a Venezuela-related general license, OFAC said in an Oct. 24 notice. General License No. 5A, replacing No. 5, authorizes certain transactions with certain bonds related to Petróleos de Venezuela, the country’s state-run oil company. OFAC also issued a Frequently Asked Question (No. 595) explaining that the license contains “a delay in effectiveness until January 22, 2020.”
The U.S. is extending a national emergency to continue sanctions on the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the White House said in an Oct. 22 message to Congress. The emergency is being extended due to the continued “widespread violence and atrocities” in the Congo that “pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the” U.S. foreign policy, the White House said. The sanctions, introduced in a 2006 executive order, block property and transactions with certain people and entities in the Congo.
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control extended the expiration date of a Belarus-related general license, OFAC said in a notice. General License No. 2G, replacing No. 2F, authorizes certain transactions with nine Belarusian entities until April 26, 2021.