The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned six people and two entities based in Russia, China and the United Arab Emirates for helping to generate revenue or process financial transactions for North Korea.
The head of the Bureau of Industry and Security this week called on companies to double down on their export compliance and due diligence efforts, saying the agency is reaching out to exporters to make sure they’re catching red flags and monitoring for possible export control evasion.
Sens. Jim Risch, R-Idaho, and Marco Rubio, R-Fla., have both placed holds on President Joe Biden’s nomination of Erik Woodhouse to head the State Department’s Office of Sanctions Coordination.
The U.S. this week sanctioned 11 people and entities supporting the Bashar al-Assad-led government in Syria, including companies that ship illegal drugs. OFAC said the designations target traffickers of Captagon -- the brand name of a “highly addictive amphetamine-type stimulant” trafficked in the Middle East and Europe -- along with entities helping Syria evade sanctions.
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Four Republican House members led by Rep. Nathaniel Moran of Texas have asked the Commerce and State departments to describe the measures they are considering to counteract what appears to be increasing collaboration between China and Iran on military drone development and distribution.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned 13 entities and two people with ties to Russia’s financial services and technology industries for offering services to evade U.S. sanctions. OFAC said many of the companies operate blockchain-based services that allow virtual currency payments in Russia’s financial sector, “thus enabling potential sanctions evasion.”
The European Council on March 22 sanctioned 33 people and two entities linked to the death of Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny. The listings, under the EU's global human rights sanctions regime, include the two penal colonies where Navalny was held from June 2022 until his death last month, along with the head of one of those colonies, Vadim Kalinin, and other "various deputy heads of the colony." Members of the judiciary were also sanctioned, including Andrey Suvorov, who sentenced Navalny to 19 years in prison, and Kirill Nikiforov, who rejected Navalny's suit against the penal colony.
The EU General Court on March 20 annuled the sanctions listing of former Formula One driver Nikita Mazepin, saying the link between Mazepin and his father -- sanctioned Russian oligarch Dmitry Mazepin -- is insufficient for the driver's listing on the Russia sanctions regime.
The House Foreign Affairs Committee voted 28-22 this week to approve a bill that would impose property-blocking sanctions on Chinese Communist Party leaders for committing human rights violations.