U.S. companies shouldn’t rush to start business with Syria despite the Trump administration lifting some sanctions, said Daniel Schneiderman, a former Pentagon official who oversaw Afghanistan policy.
The U.N. Security Council on Aug. 5 added an alias to the sanctions entry for Sabawi Ibrahim al-Tikriti, who has been sanctioned by the U.S. and others for his ties to former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein. The alias is Bashar al-Nasiri.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned 18 entities and people for helping the Iranian government evade sanctions, including financial companies, information technology firms and other businesses providing Iran with banking services or supplying it with advanced surveillance technologies.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on Aug. 6 released its quarterly report on certain licensing activities for Iran, covering April-June. The reports provide licensing statistics for exports of agricultural goods, medicine and medical devices as required by the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned three senior members and one associate of the Mexico-based Cartel del Noreste, which it called one of the "most violent drug trafficking organizations" in the country and which the U.S. labeled a Foreign Terrorist Organization in February (see 2502190011).
The Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network is asking banks and other financial institutions to be aware of cybercriminals, drug-trafficking groups and others using convertible virtual currency kiosks for illegal activity. They use the kiosks -- which act as ATM-like devices that allow customers to exchange real currency for virtual currency -- to send payments under “false pretenses,” launder drug money and execute other activities that may violate FinCEN’s rules to counter money laundering and financing of terrorism. The agency's alert includes a list of red flags that banks should monitor and asks financial institutions to submit suspicious activity reports to FinCEN with the key term “FIN-2025-CVCKIOSK” if they suspect a transaction may be tied to illegal use of the kiosks.
Estonia has recently seen an uptick in shipments of imported plywood that it suspects of violating EU sanctions against Russia, the country’s tax and customs agency said this month.
A State Department spokesperson this week declined to say whether the U.S. would consider reinstating sanctions against Israeli settlers who have committed violence against Palestinians in the West Bank. But, he said, the U.S. has spoken with the Israeli government about the recent uptick in violence.
President Donald Trump this week accused India of buying large amounts of Russian oil and selling it for profit, adding that he plans to significantly raise U.S. tariffs against the country.
The U.K.'s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation updated its Russia-related sanction entry for Petr Olegovich Aven, an executive with the Alfa Group Consortium, one of Russia’s largest financial and investment conglomerates. OFSI changed his address from Moscow to Riga, Latvia, and updated other identifying information.