The U.K. on June 26 extended until March 31 its General License under the Russian sanctions regime permitting the continuation of business operations with Evraz's North American subsidiaries.
The EU added seven Iranian government officials, security officers and judges to its Iran sanctions list for committing "serious human rights violations." The designations target prosecutor Seyyed Mohammad Mousvian and deputy judge Ali Zare Nouri, both responsible for trials against protesters who were later executed, the European Council said June 26. Sanctions were also applied to Iranian officials Seyyed Nader Safavi Mirmahalleh and Seyyed Abbas Hosseini and police or military officials Seyyed Khalil Safavi, Mojtaba Fada and Rashid Kaboud Vandi.
The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls added a new “Renewal Fee Details” function to its online application system, the agency recently announced. The new function will allow certain users of the Defense Export Control and Compliance System to view their registration expiration date, license period start and end dates, their number of licenses and more information “consolidated into the new Renewal Fee Details window.” Users will also be able to download a .csv file “of all licenses considered when calculating the renewal fee charged by DDTC,” along with other new functionalities. Questions should be directed to PM_DDTCProjectteam@state.gov.
Igor Panchernikov, a California resident and former member of the U.S. military, was sentenced to 27 months in prison for conspiring to illegally export defense items to Russia in violation of the Arms Export Control Act, DOJ announced last week. Panchernikov was charged in 2021 as part of a five-person scheme to ship thermal imaging rifle scopes and night-vision goggles to Russia (see 2106220012).
The House Foreign Affairs Committee last week advanced two sanctions-related bills, one involving China and another dealing with Iran.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control last week sanctioned two Russian Federal Security Service officers recently indicted by DOJ for assisting the Kremlin’s foreign election interference efforts. The designations target Yegor Sergeyevich Popov and Aleksei Borisovich Sukhodolov.
The EU is preparing to revamp its dual-use export control regime to better target emerging technologies, said Jean-Charles van Eeckhaute, a senior European Commission official. Van Eeckhaute said the commission already has begun work on a new list of dual-use technologies -- which the bloc hopes to finalize by September -- that may warrant new restrictions.
The U.K. on June 23 amended three entries under its Russia sanctions regime. The changes affected the listings for Demetris Ioannides, Meritservus managing director; Dmitry Alexandrovich Pumpyansky, former board chairman for Tube Metallurgical Company; and Pumpyansky's wife, Galina Evgenyevna Pumpyanskaya.
Republican senators reintroduced a bill last week that would allow Congress to approve or disapprove of Biden administration efforts to lift sanctions against Iran. The Iran Sanctions Relief Review Act, first introduced in 2021 (see 2102260025), would “provide a check on the Biden administration if they try to circumvent Congress during negotiations,” said Sens. Tom Cotton and John Boozman, both of Arkansas. “Congress should review any sanctions relief Iran receives.”
A Republican-backed bill in the Senate could require the Bureau of Industry and Security to adopt a license review policy of presumption of denial for controlled exports to “any end user” in China or Russia and to notify Congress before approving a license to either country. After notifying Congress, lawmakers would be able to block BIS from granting the license, which will help “create additional safeguards to ensure sensitive technology does not flow to our adversaries,” the bill’s introducers’ press release said.