The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned Lebanese brothers Raymond Zina Rahme and Teddy Zina Rahme, along with their companies, for corruption and other activities that “contribute to the breakdown of the rule of law in Lebanon.” OFAC said the brothers use United Arab Emirates-based ZR Energy DMCC and Lebanon-based ZR Group Holding SAL and ZR Logistics SAL to win government contracts through a “highly opaque public tendering process.”

The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week published two sets of previously issued general licenses under its Venezuela sanctions regime. The full text of each license appears in the respective notice.

Australia last week released the public submissions it received as it reviews its autonomous sanctions regulations, which are scheduled to expire April 1, 2024. Submissions came from Australian financial institutions, law firms, universities and others.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control last week sanctioned Tabacalera del Este, a Paraguay-based cigarette manufacturer, and issued a new general license authorizing certain transactions with the company. OFAC said Tabacalera is owned 50% or more by former Paraguayan President Horacio Manuel Cartes Jara, who was sanctioned by the agency in January for corruption, along with another of his companies, Tabacos USA (see 2301260073).

The State Department this week published its 2022 Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act Annual Report in the Federal Register, detailing actions the agency took to impose Magnitsky sanctions that year, which included 35 foreign person designations. The report lists each of the designations, including why they were designated.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned Slovakian national Ashot Mkrtychev for trying to facilitate arms deals between Russia and North Korea. Mkrtychev worked with North Korean officials, including as recently as this year, to “obtain” more than two dozen kinds of weapons and munitions for Russia in exchange for commercial aircraft, raw materials and other commodities, OFAC said. The agency said Mkrtychev negotiated a “mutually beneficial cooperation” agreement between North Korea and Russia “to include financial payments and barter arrangements,” and “confirmed Russia’s readiness to receive military equipment from [North Korea] with senior Russian officials.”

The U.N. Security Council this week removed an Iraq-related entry from its sanctions list. Amir Hamudi Hassan Al-Sa'di is no longer designated. The U.K. also dropped him from its Iraq sanctions list, the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation said March 28. Both listed Al-Sa'di in 2003.

Canada this week imposed another set of sanctions against Iran (see 2302270008, 2301090012 and 2212050008), designating eight people and two entities for human rights abuses or for their involvement in Iranian drone and missile production. Among those sanctioned are several military officials, including Hassan Hassanzadeh, commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces in Tehran. Canada also sanctioned Imen Sanat Zaman Fara, a company that manufactures equipment for Iranian security forces, and Ravin Academy, a training institute that “specializes” in cybersecurity.

The State Department this week published its 2021 Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act Annual Report in the Federal Register, detailing the “significant action” the agency took to impose Magnitsky sanctions that year, which included 176 foreign person designations. The report lists each of the designations, including why they were designated.

The U.S. and the U.K. this week announced sanctions against people and entities in Syria and Lebanon supporting the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria and the production and export of Captagon, a “dangerous amphetamine,” the Office of Foreign Assets Control said.