The European Court of Justice ruled that the freezing of funds and economic resources prevents the implementation of measures that establish a right to be paid on a priority basis in favor of a certain creditor in relation to others, because those measures alter the destination of the frozen funds, potentially allowing their use. The decision came in response to a preliminary ruling from the French Court of Cassation on questions arising from the case Bank Sepah v. Overseas Financial Ltd. and Oaktree Finance Ltd. The case dealt with creditors' ability to enforce action against assets frozen under the EU's Iran sanctions regime, the EU Sanctions blog reported Nov. 15. The French court asked the ECJ whether EU sanctions prevent a "non-earmarking" judicial lien from being imposed over frozen assets without a license and whether it is relevant that the debt is unrelated to the Iranian ballistic missile program and came about before the bank's United Nations sanctions designation. On the latter question, the ECJ said that "the fact that the grounds for the claim for recovery from the person whose funds are frozen are unrelated to the Iranian ballistic missile programme is not relevant to that question," EU Sanctions said.
A former professor at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology has been charged in Norway with violating sanctions on Iran, export control regulations and the country's data breach laws, the Norwegian Broadcasting Corp. reported, according to an unofficial translation. The professor allegedly invited four guest researchers from Iran, giving them laboratory access at the university in 2018-19. The four also were given access to defense information without obtaining the necessary license from the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the report said. Norway alleges the visitors could have gained knowledge beneficial to Iran's nuclear program.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control fined two Texas companies -- both subsidiaries of Netherlands-based oilfield services company ​Schlumberger Ltd. -- for violating U.S. sanctions against Russia and Sudan, OFAC said Sept. 27. The agency fined oil and gas service provider Cameron International Corp. more than $1.4 million for illegally providing services for a Russian Arctic offshore oil project and fined gas product provider Schlumberger Rod Lift, Inc. $160,000 for helping to illegally facilitate shipments to Sudan. OFAC said neither company voluntarily self-disclosed its violations.
Rep. Scott Franklin, R-Fla., introduced a bill that would prohibit U.S. funding for the Taliban government and require sanctions on foreigners who knowingly provide assistance to Afghanistan's government. Franklin said Sept. 23 that his bill is a companion to the bill introduced by Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., (see 2109210010). He has five Republican co-sponsors. Franklin said the bill also would repeal the exception in Iran sanctions for sectors necessary for Afghan reconstruction. "While we feel this should be an issue on which all sides can agree, sadly our Democrat colleagues have not chosen to join this effort,” Franklin said.
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Three members of a Florida family were charged with conspiracy to violate U.S. sanctions on Iran and money laundering, the Department of Justice said. Mohammad Faghihi, along with his wife, Farzeneh Modarresi, and sister, Faezeh Faghihi, led Florida-based Express Gene -- a company that allegedly received multiple wire transfers from accounts in Malaysia, China, Singapore, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, totaling nearly $3.5 million, between October 2016 and November 2020. Some of this money allegedly was used to buy and then ship genetic sequencing equipment to Iran without a license from the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, DOJ said.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi asked Japan to release $3 billion worth of Iranian funds that are frozen in Japan because of U.S. sanctions, Reuters reported Aug. 22. Raisi recently asked Japan’s foreign minister to release the funds, which were generated from gas export sales but are frozen due to expansive U.S. sanctions on Iran’s banking and energy sectors, the report said. “The improvement of ties with Japan is of great importance for Iran. ... Any delay in unblocking Iranian assets in Japanese banks is not justified,” Raisi told Japan’s foreign minister, according to the report.
The European Council announced the alignment of third countries to its sanctions regimes on Lebanon and Iran. North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania and Georgia aligned themselves with the measures pertaining to the Lebanon sanctions. Except for Georgia, the same countries, along with Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Ukraine and Moldova aligned themselves with the restrictive measures Iran sanctions.
The European Council removed the former deputy head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, Sayed Shamsuddin Borborudi, from its Iran sanctions list and Libyan Gen. Khaled Tohami from its Libyan sanctions regime July 29. The council delisted both individuals following judgments from the European Union General Court to delete the listings.
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