The United Kingdom’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation renewed two designations under its terrorism and terrorist financing sanctions list, a Nov. 4 notice said. The U.K. renewed sanctions against the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command.
Two Iranian businessmen sanctioned by the U.S. said they were illegally targeted by the Office of Foreign Assets Control and asked the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California to vacate their designations. Behzad Ferdows and Mehrzad Ferdows, residents of Germany and Iran, said in a Nov. 5 lawsuit that OFAC violated “constitutional norms,” statutory requirements and failed to follow due process when the agency sanctioned both men in September.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is considering export controls on certain “software” that can be exploited to develop biological weapons (see 2010010003) and requested feedback from industry about the impact of the controls, the agency said in a Nov. 5 notice. The controls would target software “for the operation of nucleic acid assemblers and synthesizers” that can design and build “functional genetic elements from digital sequence data.” The controls would fall under BIS’s emerging technology effort, and comments are due Dec. 21.
The State Department approved another potential military sale to Taiwan worth about $600 million, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said Nov. 3, drawing backlash from China. The sale includes four “Weapons-Ready MQ-9B Remotely Piloted Aircraft” and related equipment. General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. will be the principal contractor.
The State Department removed certain sanctions from an Islamic organization in western China, it said in a notice released Nov 4. The move revoked the designation of the Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement as a “terrorist organization” under the Immigration and Nationality Act.
Three U.S. companies said they may have violated U.S. sanctions or export controls related to overseas sales and illegally processed payments, according to their most recent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The potential violations include disclosures of dealings with sanctioned businesses, including sales to Iran.
Germany revised and added to its list of items subject to dual-use and military-related export controls, the EU Sanctions blog said Nov. 2. The additions, which took effect Oct. 29, include small firearms and components related to hunting and sports, software specially designed for “military offensive cyber operations,” certain land vehicles with military equipment, equipment relating to radiation weapons systems, and items used at “environmental testing facilities” to evaluate weapons and ammunition.
The Bureau of Industry and Security did not impose penalties on a U.S. electronics company that had disclosed potential export violations (see 1911290004) for shipments involving Iran and Syria, Arrow Electronics said in an Oct. 29 Securities and Exchange Commission filing. Arrow, which disclosed that it helped ship $5,000 worth of products to resellers covered by U.S. sanctions, said BIS closed its investigation and issued the company a warning letter with no penalties. BIS declined to comment. Arrow said it is still being investigated by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control for the sanctions violations, which “may result in the imposition of penalties.”
The United Kingdom Nov. 3 published guidance for its sanctions regimes covering Nicaragua, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Lebanon, and for its cyber-related designations. The guidance documents will help companies comply with the sanctions regimes after the U.K. leaves the European Union Jan. 1, 2021, the U.K. said, and covers prohibitions and requirements in each set of regulations.
More than 70 countries voiced their support for the International Criminal Court, criticizing U.S. sanctions against the body. They are “undeterred by any measures or threats against the Court, its officials and those cooperating with it,” the nations said in a Nov. 2 statement. Signers include France, the United Kingdom, Japan and Germany.