The U.S. designated Aas’ib Ahl al-Haq (AAH) a foreign terrorist organization and sanctioned two of its leaders, Qays (also known as Qais) al-Khazali and Laith al-Khazali, both Iraqi nationals, the State Department said in a Jan. 3 press release. The sanctions are aimed at denying AAH and its leadership the “resources to plan and carry out terrorist attacks,” the State Department said. The agency said the group and its leaders are backed by Iran, and their efforts are aimed at undermining “Iraqi sovereignty.” Qays and Laith were previously sanctioned by the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control in December (see 1912060022). OFAC updated identifying information for both individuals, according to a Jan. 3 notice.

The State Department sanctioned Leopoldo Cintra Frias, minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Cuba, due to human rights violations, the agency said in a Jan. 2 press release. The State Department also sanctioned his children: Deborah Cintra Gonzalez and Leopoldo Cintra Gonzalez. Frias has been involved in supporting the Nicolas Maduro regime in Venezuela, the press release said. Designated individuals and their immediate family members are ineligible for entry into the United States.

Along with sanctions related to Russia’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline (see 1912190075), the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act includes a prohibition on Venezuela-related procurement actions and additional measures against Turkey, North Korea and Syria, according to a Dec. 27 post from Crowell & Moring.

The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control issued a frequently asked question to address Congress’ inclusion of sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline in the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (see 1912190075), according to a Dec. 20 notice. In FAQ 815, OFAC clarified the wind-down provisions in the NDAA, which specify that all parties involved in selling, leasing or providing vessels for Nord Stream 2 or Turkstream must “immediately cease construction-related activity.” But OFAC said it may extend “good-faith wind-down exceptions” to certain parties for the safety of the pipeline, the crews and to avoid environmental damage.

The State Department sanctioned Honduran congressman Oscar Ramon Najera due to “significant corruption,” according to a Dec. 20 press release. Najera allegedly benefited from the Honduran drug trafficking organization Los Cachiros, which was designated by the Treasury Department as a foreign narcotics trafficking group in 2013. The State Department also designated Najera’s son Oscar Roberto Najera Lopez.

The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned five people in Mali for threatening the country’s peace and obstructing humanitarian aid, Treasury said in a Dec. 20 press release. The United Nations Security Council also designated the five people, imposing asset freezes throughout UN member states, according to a Dec. 19 press release.

The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control renewed a license authorizing certain transactions with COSCO Shipping Tanker (Dalian) Co. and amended three Iran-related frequently asked questions, OFAC said in a Dec. 19 notice. General License K-1, which replaced General License K, authorizes transactions relating to the maintenance or wind-down of dealings with the COSCO subsidiary until Feb. 4, 2020. The license was previously set to expire Dec. 20.

The U.S. extended sanctions related to global human rights abuses for one year, according to a Dec. 18 notice issued by the White House. Human rights violations “continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat” to the U.S. national and economic security, the notice said. The notice extends sanctions outlined in a 2017 executive order that provides authority for actions under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act.

The European Union’s Dec. 13 decision to renew Russian sanctions for six months (see 1912160009) will target Russia’s financial, energy and defense sectors and focus on the area of dual-use goods, according to a Dec. 19 press release from the European Council. Specifically, the sanctions are aimed at limiting access to EU primary and secondary capital markets for five “major” Russian state-owned financial institutions and their subsidiaries, as well as three Russian energy and three defense companies. The sanctions also impose an import and export ban on arms trade, establish an export ban for dual-use goods for military use or military end-users in Russia, and aim to curtail Russian access to “sensitive technologies and services” used for oil production and exploration, the press release said.

The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned two Iranian judges who have “punished” citizens for exercising freedoms of expression and assembly, Treasury said in a Dec. 19 press release. The sanctions target Abolghassem Salavati, who presides over Branch 15 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, and Mohammad Moghisseh, who presides over Branch 28.