A senior State Department official called rising weapons shipments between Russia and North Korea “deeply concerning,” saying the U.S. plans to continue using a combination of sanctions and diplomacy to try to disrupt trade between the two countries.
A new report this week from the Congressional Research Service outlines U.S. sanctions risks stemming from the global oil tanker market, including from tankers moving sanctioned oil from Russia, Iran and Venezuela.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control last week sanctioned Marshall Islands-registered shipping company Vishnu Inc. and its ship, the Lady Sofia, for their involvement in illegally shipping Iranian commodities to China. OFAC said the vessel recently transferred cargo while at sea to another sanctioned ship, the Mehle, which is currently traveling to China with the Iranian goods.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned Diego Macedo Goncalves do Carmo, a money launderer for the “most notorious” crime group in Brazil. OFAC said Goncalves has laundered hundreds of millions of dollars for Brazil-based Primeiro Comando da Capital, which the agency designated in 2021.
The U.S. on March 14 announced another set of sanctions against Israeli nationals for violence, or threats of violence, against Palestinians in the West Bank. The designations follow President Joe Biden's February executive order authorizing sanctions against people responsible for an increase in violence in the region (see 2402010053).
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on March 13 sanctioned three people in the Bosnian Serb Republic for helping Serb Republic President Milorad Dodik undermine the “peace and stability” of Bosnia and Herzegovina. OFAC said the three people “facilitated Dodik’s efforts to undermine” the Dayton Peace Agreement, the 1995 accords that ended the yearslong Bosnian War, and the “authority” of the Bosnian Constitutional Court.
A U.K. law firm this week warned about sanctions risks tied to property purchases, saying one of its lawyers had to first obtain approval from a U.K. bank before a British-Iranian client could buy property in the U.K.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned four people with ties to Al-Ashtar Brigades, a Bahrain-based militant group that the U.S. designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization and Specially Designated Global Terrorist in 2018. The designations, which OFAC said were coordinated with Bahrain, target people who were charged by Bahrain with terrorism-related activities before they fled to Iran to avoid prison.
President Joe Biden extended for one year beyond March 15 a national emergency that authorizes certain sanctions related to Iran. The White House said Iran continues to participate in the "proliferation and development of missiles and other asymmetric and conventional weapons capabilities," support terrorist groups and otherwise threaten U.S. national security.
The U.S. this week sanctioned 16 entities and people that are part of an “expansive business network” that raises and launders money for al-Shabaab, an al-Qaida linked terrorist group. The designations target business people in Africa, the United Arab Emirates, Cyprus and Finland who have helped fund the terror group, which has allowed it to kill “thousands of innocent civilians,” the agency said.