Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching for the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
Iran Export Controls
Certain items on the Commerce Control List require a license from BIS to export them to Iran. The Iranian Transactions Sanctions Regulations (ITSR) (31 CFR Part 560) also prohibit the export and reexport of goods to Iran subject to EAR.
Kambiz Attar Kashani, a dual citizen of the U.S. and Iran, was sentenced Feb. 9 to 30 months in prison for "conspiring to illegally export U.S. goods and technology to users in Iran, including the Central Bank of Iran, in violation of the International Economic Powers Act," DOJ announced. The Central Bank of Iran has supported designated terrorist organizations, including the Lebanese Hezbollah and the Qods Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, according to the U.S. government.
Last year was a “historically busy” period for new trade controls, and that pace “shows few signs of slowing” this year, Gibson Dunn said in a 2022 export control and sanctions recap released this week. The recap provides an overview of last year’s raft of new sanctions and export controls against Russia, China, Iran and others; the Bureau of Industry and Security’s new administrative enforcement policies (see 2206300069 and 2205230018); the State Department’s new compliance program guidelines (see 2212060015 and 2212210049); Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. actions; trade restrictions imposed by the EU and U.K.; and more.
The U.S. is making “good progress” on aligning export controls over sensitive technologies with allies, Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman said this week, adding that almost all the administration's recent discussions with trading partners have involved China technology issues. She also said the agency is working to counter a growing oil partnership between China and Iran, but said preventing China’s purchases has proven challenging.
The Bureau of Industry and Security last week renewed its temporary denial order for a Venezuela-based cargo airline after saying it continues to try to violate U.S. export restrictions (see 2208030014). BIS said Empresa de Transporte Aereocargo del Sur, also known as Aerocargo del Sur Transportation or Emtrasur, has shown a “blatant disregard for U.S. export controls and the terms of a preexisting TDO.”
The Bureau of Industry and Security has drafted new guidance for its October rule that expanded certain China-related chip controls (see 2210070049) and hopes to release it soon, said Thea Kendler, the agency’s assistant secretary for export administration. Kendler, speaking during a virtual conference hosted by the Massachusetts Export Center last week, also touched on the rule’s expiring temporary general license and urged industry to submit feedback on the new restrictions before the deadline this week.
The EU added 18 people and 19 entities to its Iran sanctions regime in response to the violent crackdown on protests following the death of Mahsa Amini, a woman arrested by the morality police who died in custody, the European Council announced. The listed individuals include government representatives, parliament members, media figures and high-ranking members of the Iranian security forces. The sanctions on Iran now cover 164 individuals and 31 entities and amount to an asset freeze and travel ban for those on the list, along with trade sanctions and export controls.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control Dec. 30 fined a multinational Danish-based refrigeration manufacturer more than $4.3 million for violating U.S. sanctions against Iran, Syria and Sudan. Danfoss, which also sells air conditioners and other cooling and heating products, illegally directed customers in all three countries to make payments through a U.S. financial institution, OFAC said in an enforcement notice. The company also made illegal payments to entities in Iran and Syria.
The Bureau of Industry and Security issued a 180-day temporary denial order Dec. 13 against three people and two companies for illegally sending controlled exports to Russia as part of a Moscow-led sanctions evasion scheme. Along with the denial order, DOJ indicted the three individuals, along with others, on charges related to the illegal exports, including money laundering, wire fraud, bank fraud and conspiring to defraud the U.S.
The U.S. may consider new export controls to better prevent U.S. parts and components from being used in Iranian drones delivered to Russia, State Department spokesperson Ned Price said this week. Price's comments came the same day CNN reported that parts manufactured by more than a dozen U.S. and Western companies were found in an Iranian drone struck down in Ukraine last year.