The Office of Foreign Assets Control on April 23 sanctioned two leaders of al-Qa’ida-aligned terrorist group Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) for the hostage-taking of U.S. persons in West Africa. The designations target Sidan ag Hitta of Mali and Jafar Dicko of Burkina Faso. Concurrently, the State Department sanctioned five JNIM leaders, as well as two al-Murabitoun leaders, for hostage taking of U.S. nationals.
OFAC sanction activity
A now-defunct Thai trading company will pay $20 million to settle charges that it violated Iran sanctions by selling high density polyethylene resin made in Iran to East Asian customers in U.S. dollars, the Office of Foreign Assets Control said April 19 in an enforcement release.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on April 19 sanctioned two entities for raising funds for two Israelis who were sanctioned in February for attacking West Bank Palestinians (see 2402010053).
The U.S. announced on April 18 a new package of export controls and sanctions against Iran and its activities that support Russia’s war effort, in retaliation for Iran’s attack five days earlier on Israel.
The U.S. announced new export controls and sanctions against Iran, as well as new export controls against Russia intended to address Iran’s support for Russia’s drone program, in response to Iran’s attack on Israel on April 13.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control said April 16 that it’s issuing a final rule to remove the Zimbabwe sanctions regulations from the Code of Federal Regulations. OFAC said it’s taking the action because President Joe Biden on March 4 terminated the 2003 national emergency declaration for Zimbabwe (see 2403040039). The final rule will take effect upon publication in the Federal Register April 17.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on April 15 issued new sanctions against 12 entities and 10 people for helping Belarus evade U.S. sanctions and support Russia’s “illegal” invasion of Ukraine.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on April 12 removed Bosnia and Herzegovina businessman Slobodan Stankovic and his Republika Srpska-based engineering firm, Integral Inzenjering, from the Specially Designated Nationals List. The agency sanctioned Stankovic in 2022 for ties to corruption (see 2210030015). OFAC didn’t release more information about the delistings, but news reports indicate Stankovic died last year.
The U.S. and the U.K. on April 12 expanded certain restrictions on Russia-related metals, including a new services ban on Russian aluminum, copper and nickel.
The U.S. and the EU last week announced coordinated sanctions against Hamas by targeting people and entities with ties to the terror group.