The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned five people and seven entities across mainland China, Hong Kong and Iran for helping to provide key parts to Iran’s missile and drone programs. OFAC said they procure accelerometers, gyroscopes and other components that “serve as key inputs” for Iranian weapons programs, which that country uses to produce drones for Russia and its “proxies” in the Middle East.
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The U.S. should start designating Chinese banks under a December executive order that authorizes secondary sanctions on foreign financial institutions that help facilitate Russia-related transactions, a group advocating for democracy in Hong Kong said in a new report this month.
The Pentagon should drop its outdated approach to technology security and export controls and allow American defense companies to work more efficiently with U.S. allies, a Defense Department advisory committee said in a new report this month. The committee said the agency needs major revisions to the way it treats restrictions under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, warning that DOD is “failing to address shortcomings in international engagement amid a rapidly evolving global security landscape.”
The Biden administration is doing too little to counter China’s material support for Russia’s war machine, the ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said July 30.
Charlie Steele, former chief counsel for the Office of Foreign Assets Control, has joined London-based legal advisory firm Outer Temple Chambers as a professional associate, he announced on LinkedIn. Steele, who left OFAC in 2020, said his work at Outer Temple will focus on sanctions issues, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. and anti-money laundering. He said he will continue to operate the Law Office of Charles Steele, his Washington, D.C.-based solo practice.
The EU made its first transfer of seized Russian assets to Ukraine, making available over $1.6 billion, the European Commission announced. The funds are made up of sanctioned Russian Central Bank assets, 90% of which will head to the European Peace Facility and 10% to the Ukraine Facility, which will support Ukrainian defense and reconstruction efforts. The next wave of assets to be sent to Ukraine will take place in March, the commission said.
A new report accompanying the Senate Appropriations Committee’s FY 2025 Commerce-Justice-Science Appropriations Bill calls for the Bureau of Industry and Security to conduct several export control reviews, including one that identifies regulatory “gaps” that have allowed controlled U.S. technology, especially semiconductor technology, to flow to China without a license (see 2407260054).
The U.S. is considering “consequences,” including possibly sanctions actions, against Venezuela after the country’s Nicolas Maduro-led regime appeared to alter the results of the country’s presidential elections, senior administration officials said this week.
House and Senate lawmakers introduced a bill July 25 that would sanction entities and people that pay Palestinian terrorists and their families for attacks against Israelis, which they called "terrorist martyr payments."