The U.N. Security Council on June 2 amended a Libya-related entry on its sanctions list. The UNSC revised identifying information for Merai Abdefattah Khalil Zoghbi, who has ties to the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned seven members of a “malign influence group” with ties to Russian government intelligence. The designations target Konstantin Prokopyevich Sapozhnikov, Yury Yuryevich Makolov, Gleb Maksimovich Khloponin, Svetlana Andreyevna Boyko, Aleksey Vyacheslavovich Losev, Vasily Viktorovich Gromovikov and Anna Travnikova, all of whom are involved in efforts to “destabilize” the Moldovan government. OFAC also sanctioned Perko Julleuchter, a workshop that produces ceramic lanterns, which is owned by Losev.
The U.S. and its allies should tighten export restrictions on artificial intelligence technologies destined to China, said Rep. Michael Waltz, R-Fla.. Waltz, speaking during a June 5 event hosted by the Atlantic Council, said America and its close trading partners need to “collaborate and innovate within a bubble that can be protected,” adding that cutting off technology trade with China will be inevitable. “I just don't see a way forward without decoupling,” he said.
The Bureau of Industry and Security again renewed the temporary denial order (TDO) for three U.S. companies for their involvement in illegally exported technical drawings and blueprints to China (see 2206080068) after continuing to find evidence of additional potential export violations. The order, originally issued June 8, 2022, before being renewed in December (see 2212080007), was renewed for another 180 days on June 1, BIS said.
Lithuanian authorities submitted evidence against nine Lithuanian companies showing the businesses violated EU sanctions by declaring that Russian and Belarusian imports of plywood, pellets and other timber products were from Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project recently reported. The evidence resulted from an OCCRP investigation concluded in December 2022, which led to a separate investigation from the Lithuanian State Consumer Rights Protection Authority. OCCRP expects that the number of companies accused of evading sanctions will increase since many of them are "evading SCRPA's request to provide information about their activities."
The Commerce Department should use the Entity List and potentially its anti-boycott regulations to respond to Beijning’s restrictions on U.S. chip company Micron (see 2305220053 and 2305240002), Reps. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, and Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., said in a June 1 letter to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo. The lawmakers said it’s time for the U.S. and its partners to “firmly push back” on China’s “economic coercion, adding that it "can no longer sit on the sidelines as the [People’s Republic of China] selectively targets U.S. and allied entities with the goal of intimidating our businesses and harming our economic security.”
The Office of Foreign Assets Control published previously issued general licenses, a sectoral determination and a directive under its Russian Harmful Foreign Activities Sanctions Regulations. Each notice includes the full text of the licenses, determination and directive.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control last week sanctioned Iranian technology company Arvan Cloud, two of its senior employees and an affiliated business in the United Arab Emirates for helping the Iranian government’s internet censorship. The agency said Arvan Cloud, also known as Navyan Abr Arvan Private Limited Co., is a “key partner” of Iran’s Information and Communications Technology Ministry and was co-founded by Pouya Pirhosseinloo and Farhad Fatemi. Also designated was Dubai-based ArvanCloud Global Technologies, which provides cloud services on behalf of Arvan Cloud.
The U.K. added one name to its Somalia sanctions list and amended two others under its Russia sanctions regime, the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation said. OFSI added Abdullahi Osman Mohamed Caddow to its Somalia list and revised the listings for Russian businessmen Vladimir Nikolaevich Lepin and Dmitry Vladimirovich Konov.
The U.K.'s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation published a blog post with guidance on how to navigate its trust services sanctions (see 2303220021), covering where the sanctions apply, key exceptions, OFSI's enforcement powers and licensing. Under the key exceptions guidance, OFSI said sanctions do not apply for acts "for the purposes of complying with the prohibitions and obligations of an asset freeze," and for trust services "provided in respect of registered pension schemes, where these services are not provided primarily to, or for the benefit of, a designated person" or persons connected with Russia.