The State Department this week published its 2022 Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act Annual Report in the Federal Register, detailing actions the agency took to impose Magnitsky sanctions that year, which included 35 foreign person designations. The report lists each of the designations, including why they were designated.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned Slovakian national Ashot Mkrtychev for trying to facilitate arms deals between Russia and North Korea. Mkrtychev worked with North Korean officials, including as recently as this year, to “obtain” more than two dozen kinds of weapons and munitions for Russia in exchange for commercial aircraft, raw materials and other commodities, OFAC said. The agency said Mkrtychev negotiated a “mutually beneficial cooperation” agreement between North Korea and Russia “to include financial payments and barter arrangements,” and “confirmed Russia’s readiness to receive military equipment from [North Korea] with senior Russian officials.”

The U.N. Security Council this week removed an Iraq-related entry from its sanctions list. Amir Hamudi Hassan Al-Sa'di is no longer designated. The U.K. also dropped him from its Iraq sanctions list, the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation said March 28. Both listed Al-Sa'di in 2003.

Canada this week imposed another set of sanctions against Iran (see 2302270008, 2301090012 and 2212050008), designating eight people and two entities for human rights abuses or for their involvement in Iranian drone and missile production. Among those sanctioned are several military officials, including Hassan Hassanzadeh, commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces in Tehran. Canada also sanctioned Imen Sanat Zaman Fara, a company that manufactures equipment for Iranian security forces, and Ravin Academy, a training institute that “specializes” in cybersecurity.

The State Department this week published its 2021 Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act Annual Report in the Federal Register, detailing the “significant action” the agency took to impose Magnitsky sanctions that year, which included 176 foreign person designations. The report lists each of the designations, including why they were designated.

The U.S. and the U.K. this week announced sanctions against people and entities in Syria and Lebanon supporting the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria and the production and export of Captagon, a “dangerous amphetamine,” the Office of Foreign Assets Control said.

The U.S. last week sanctioned two people and six entities linked to Myanmar’s military regime and issued a new alert to warn companies about the risks of providing jet fuel to the country’s military.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control last week issued new sanctions against three entities, nine people and one aircraft in Belarus for the country's suppression of pro-democracy protests following its "fraudulent" 2020 presidential elections.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week published in the Federal Register a previously issued general license under its Syrian Sanctions Regulations. The notice includes the full text of the license.

The number of ships carrying sanctioned fuel has increased in recent years, creating a “shadow” fleet of tankers that operate without insurance or oversight, Reuters reported March 23. Industry observers fear the rise in shadow vessels could “undermine decades-long industry efforts to increase shipping safety,” particularly as more vessels turn to carrying sanctioned Russian and Iranian energy shipments. The report tracked at least eight groundings, collisions or near misses involving tankers carrying sanctioned energy products last year, adding that the shadow fleet is estimated to include at least 400 to 600 ships, about a fifth of the total global crude oil tanker fleet.