The U.S. and the U.K. this week sanctioned Mustafa Ayash and Aozma Sultana, the founders of companies that fundraise on behalf of the terror group Hamas. The U.S. also sanctioned the companies: Gaza Now, which is owned by Ayash, and Al-Qureshi Executives and Aakhirah Limited, operated by Sultana.
The Bureau of Industry and Security hasn't yet made a decision on whether to move forward with export controls on automated peptide synthesizers after proposing the restrictions in April last year (see 2304190060), a Commerce Department official said this week.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is still developing a proposed rule to prevent sophisticated hacking tools and expertise from being exported to foreign governments that spy on their own citizens, a Commerce Department official said March 27.
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.
The U.S. is pushing foreign governments to stop their semiconductor companies from servicing certain advanced chip tools under pre-existing contracts with Chinese customers, Bureau of Industry and Security Undersecretary Alan Estevez said.
The European Council on March 25 added Mohamed Ibrahim al-Shafi'i Al-Salem, the leader of the ISIL-affiliated group Islamic State Sahel Province, to its ISIL (Da'esh) and al-Qaeda sanctions regime, the council announced. The ISIL affiliate mainly operates in Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali.
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.
The U.S. this week sanctioned six entities, one person and two tankers that have helped ship goods and facilitate financial transactions on behalf of the Iranian military, the Iran-backed Houthis and Hezbollah. The Office of Foreign Assets Control said they are tied to sanctioned Houthi financial facilitator Sa’id al-Jamal (see 2403060017).
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