President Joe Biden will maintain Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ designation as a foreign terrorist organization, removing the designation as a negotiating chip in a renewed nuclear deal with Iran, Politico reported May 24. The designation, which subjects the group to certain sanctions, was made as part of the Trump administration's maximum pressure campaign against Iran. Naftali Bennett, Israel’s prime minister, applauded the decision in a May 24 tweet. “I welcome the decision by the US Administration to keep Iran’s IRGC on the Foreign Terrorist Organizations list -- which is where it belongs.”
The U.K.’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation on May 24 corrected one entry under its Iran sanctions regime and amended 63 entries under its Russia sanctions regime. All entries are still subject to an asset freeze.
The U.K.’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation issued a new general license authorizing certain activities, including purchases of tickets for flights or “rail journeys” originating in Russia. The license, issued May 23, authorizes those activities with sanctioned Russian entities PJSC Aeroflot, JSC Rossiya Airlines, JSC Ural Airlines, Russian Railways or any of their subsidiaries.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control added a Hamas finance official, three Hamas financial facilitators, and six companies that have generated revenues for Hamas to its Specially Designated Nationals list, it announced May 24. The "expansive network" has generated revenue for the group through the management of an international investment portfolio, a related press release said. Hamas’s Investment Office is in charge of the day-to-day management of its estimated $500 million portfolio, including companies operating in Sudan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Algeria and the United Arab Emirates. “Today’s action targets the individuals and companies that Hamas uses to conceal and launder funds. ... The United States is committed to denying Hamas the ability to generate and move funds,” Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes Elizabeth Rosenberg said.
Canada last week imposed another set of sanctions against Russia for its war in Ukraine, designating 14 people and banning exports and imports of “targeted” luxury goods to and from Russia. The designations apply to Russian oligarchs, their family members and “close associates” of the Vladimir Putin regime. The trade restrictions apply to exports of alcohol, tobacco, certain textile products, luxury clothing, jewelry, art and accessories, and imports of alcohol, seafood and nonindustrial diamonds.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control said it will not renew the expiring General License 9C, with its authorizations set to end at 12:01 a.m. EDT on May 25. The license allowed transactions necessary to dealings in debt or equity with Bank for Development and Foreign Economic Affairs Vnesheconombank, Bank Otkritie Financial Corporation, Sovcombank Open Joint Stock Company, Sberbank of Russia and VTB Bank (see 2204080046).
The U.K. amended four entries under its Russia sanctions regime. In a May 20 notice, the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation updated the entries for Olga Petrovna Gryaznova, Yuri Nikolayevich Shamalov, Lyudmila Aleksandrovna Ocheretnaya and Marina Vladimirovna Magdalina, still subjecting them to an asset freeze. The updates corrected details on the sanctions listings such as the spellings of names and dates of birth.
Russia announced new sanctions against U.S. citizens, including two Treasury Department officials and two former Bureau of Industry and Security officials, according to an unofficial translation of a May 21 notice. Russia designated Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo, who has overseen some of the agency’s sanctions work, and Andrea Gacki, the director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control is alerting users of its website and sanctions list data files of upcoming technical changes. The agency is beginning its annual renewal of the public certificate for its website, including its sanctions list downloads, and said its existing certificate will be replaced May 26 beginning at 9 p.m. The process will take about three to six hours for the replacement to be widely distributed, OFAC said in a May 23 notice. Users may need to update their configuration to trust the renewed certificate in order to prevent a loss of functionality.
The departments of state, the treasury, commerce and labor issued an advisory concerning U.S. Businesses in Sudan, to highlight the growing risks to American interests conducting business in the country, especially with Sudanese state-owned enterprises. Recent actions undertaken by the Sudanese government and security forces could adversely impact U.S. businesses and their operations in the country and the region, according to the advisory.