The United Kingdom’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation updated its ISIL (Da'esh) and al-Qaida sanctions list Feb. 27 to reflect two deletions recently made by the United Nations Security Council (see 2002200013). The change removed asset freezes from Al-Mokhtar Ben Mohamed Ban Al-Mokhtar Bouchoucha and Imad Ben Bechir Ben Hamda Al-Jammali.
The U.S. renewed sanctions against Cuba to continue beyond March 1, 2020, according to a Feb. 25 White House notice. The White House said Cuba has “not demonstrated that it will refrain from the use of excessive force against United States vessels or aircraft.”
A lawsuit filed by 20 states to block the transfer of export controls over firearms from the State Department to the Commerce Department is unfounded, the State Department said, adding that the states don’t understand the International Traffic in Arms Regulations and the Export Administration Regulations. The “plaintiffs are simply wrong,” the State Department said in a Feb. 24 court filing. “Several basic misunderstandings about how the respective regimes operate negate the Plaintiffs’ claims and any basis for preliminary injunctive relief.”
A Swiss telecommunications and information technology organization agreed to pay nearly $8 million for violations of U.S. terrorism sanctions, the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control said in a Feb. 26 notice. The organization, Société Internationale de Télécommunications Aéronautiques (SITA), committed more than 9,000 violations of the Global Terrorism Sanctions Regulations when it provided U.S.-origin services and software to airlines designated by OFAC.
The U.S. renewed sanctions on people and entities that “undermine democratic processes” in Ukraine, according to a Feb. 25 news release from the White House. The sanctions, first issued under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act in 2014, will continue for one year after March 6, 2020, the White House said.
The United Nations Security Council added two entries to its ISIL (Da’esh) and al-Qaida Sanctions List, according to a Feb. 23 news release. The sanctions target two ISIS affiliates: the Islamic State West Africa Province and the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara. The State Department said it “welcomes” the UNSC sanctions of the two affiliates, which are “responsible for killing hundreds of innocent civilians.” The two entities were sanctioned by the U.S. in 2018.
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned three Lebanon-based officials and 12 Lebanon-based entities linked to the Martyrs Foundation, which is part of Hizballah’s support network, Treasury said in a Feb. 26 press release. The designations include Atlas Holding, a company owned by the Martyrs Foundation, senior Atlas official Kassem Mohamad Ali Bazzi and 10 Atlas-affiliated companies, Treasury said. The companies operate in Lebanon’s fuel, pharmaceuticals, tourism and clothing sectors.
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control added Ahmad Al-Hamidawi to its Specially Designated Nationals List, according to a Feb. 26 notice. OFAC did not immediately release more information on the designation.
The State Department announced sanctions on 13 entities and people based in China, Iraq, Russia and Turkey under the Iran, North Korea, and Syria Nonproliferation Act, the agency said in a Feb. 25 news release. The sanctions target people and companies that support Iran’s missile program. The State Department said the designations are “two-year discretionary sanctions” and block all U.S. government procurement, government assistance and exports related to the people and companies.
U.S. administration officials will meet with the European Union and Japan next month to lobby for increased scrutiny of transactions involving sensitive technologies, a top Treasury Department official said. The meetings will also feature discussions of recent U.S. reforms to foreign direct investment screening, said Thomas Feddo, Treasury’s assistant secretary of investment security, and come as the U.S. begins to implement those reforms as part of the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act (see 2001140060). Feddo spoke during a Feb. 26 event hosted by the Asia Society.