The Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned nine companies operating in Iran’s metals sector, including five subsidiaries of Iran-based Mobarakeh Steel Company, the agency said June 25. The sanctions target Mobarakeh Steel subsidiary Germany-based Tara Steel Trading GmbH; Mobarakeh majority-owned Iran-based Metil Steel; and Mobarakeh majority-owned Pacific Steel FZE, Better Future General Trading Co LLC and Tuka Metal Trading DMCC, all based in the United Arab Emirates. OFAC also designated Iran-based South Aluminum Company, Sirjan Jahan Steel Complex and Iran Central Iron Ore Company.
OFAC sanction activity
The Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned the captains of five ships used by Iranian shipping lines to deliver Iranian gasoline to Venezuela, OFAC said in a June 24 news release. The ships belong to the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines and the National Iranian Tanker Company, both of which are sanctioned by OFAC. The sanctions target Ali Danaei Kenarsari, of the Clavel tanker; Mohsen Gohardehi, the Petunia; Alireza Rahnavard, the Fortune; Reza Vaziri, the Forest; and Hamidreza Yahya Zadeh, the Faxon.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control issued a technical notice June 22 informing industry of the agency’s upcoming annual renewal of the public certificate that secures its website. That renewal may impact OFAC sanctions list downloads “if your application pins or otherwise trusts the serial number of the existing certificate as part your application functionality.” OFAC said users “may need to update your configuration to trust the renewed certificate.” The certificate will be replaced at 9 p.m. on June 25 and will take about three to six hours for worldwide distribution, OFAC said. The notice contains a link to download the renewed public certificate. OFAC is advising users to make sure their applications trust the new certificate by the replacement date “to prevent loss in functionality.”
The Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned three people, eight entities and two ships for evading U.S. sanctions against Venezuela, according to a June 18 press release. OFAC also issued a general license authorizing certain wind-down activities with two of the sanctioned entities and the two sanctioned ships.
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned six Nigerian nationals who allegedly ran an email scheme to steal more than $6 million from U.S. companies and people, Treasury said June 16. The Nigerian nationals impersonated business executives and “engaged in romance fraud” -- in which they “masqueraded as affectionate partners to gain trust from victims” -- to receive wire transfers, Treasury said. The sanctions target Richard Uzuh, Micheal Olorunyomi, Alex Ogunshakin, Felix Okpoh, Nnamdi Benson and Abiola Kayode.
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with some of the top stories for June 8-12 in case you missed them.
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The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control updated more than 100 Iran-related sanctions entries on its Specially Designated Nationals List, according to a June 8 notice. OFAC did not immediately provide more information about the changes.
The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control on June 5 issued a series of frequently asked questions to clarify a January executive order that expanded U.S. sanctions authority against Iran (see 2001100050). The FAQs clarified that the U.S. will not target Iranian medical manufacturers, defined the sectors of Iran’s economy referenced in the order and specified which goods and services may be targeted. Before this guidance, the agency had done little to define the broad scope of the order, which was causing confusion about the reach of the authorities and the Iranian sectors that would be subject to expanded sanctions (see 2001170034).
An aircraft holding company is suing the Treasury Department after the agency blocked a transaction involving the company and an alleged Specially Designated Global Terrorist, according to court records filed June 2. In the lawsuit, Seychelles-registered Askan Holdings, owned by Romania-based Transylvania International Airlines SRL, argued that no sanctioned party was involved in the transaction and said the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control failed to identify the blocked party or grant Askan a license. Askan is asking a court to order OFAC to grant the license or to stop blocking the transaction.