The Bureau of Industry and Security this week suspended the export privileges of a Venezuela-based cargo airline for violating U.S. export controls. The agency said Empresa de Transporte Aereocargo del Sur, also known as Aerocargo del Sur Transportation or EMTRASUR, acquired “custody” of a U.S.-origin Boeing aircraft from Mahan Air -- a sanctioned Iranian airline (see 2205160035) -- and illegally flew that plane between Venezuela, Iran and Russia.
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.
The Bureau of Industry and Security on Aug. 2 suspended the export privileges of a Venezuela-based cargo airline for violating U.S. export controls. The agency said Empresa de Transporte Aéreocargo del Sur, also known as Aerocargo del Sur Transportation Company, acquired control of a U.S.-origin Boeing aircraft from Mahan Air -- Iran’s sanctioned airline -- and illegally flew that plane between Venezuela, Iran and Russia. BIS suspended the airlines’ export privileges for 180 days, barring it from participating in transactions subject to the Export Administration Regulations.
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The Bureau of Industry and Security recently revoked export privileges for four people after they illegally exported defense items or weapons ammunition.
The U.S. will ramp up sanctions pressure against Iran if it doesn’t return to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, said Jake Sullivan, President Joe Biden’s national security adviser. Sullivan also said Iran is preparing to send weapons technology to Russia in violation of international export controls.
The U.S. this week announced a host of new sanctions targeting Russia’s defense industrial base, including export restrictions against entities helping Moscow evade U.S. export controls and new financial sanctions targeting state-owned companies. The sanctions target more than 100 entities and 50 people supporting Russia’s defense industry and add 36 entities to the Commerce Department’s Entity List, including six for supporting Russia’s military.
The U.S. on June 28 announced a host of new sanctions targeting Russia’s defense industrial base, including export restrictions against entities helping Moscow evade U.S. export controls and for illegally acquiring controlled U.S. items for Iran. The financial sanctions, announced by the Treasury and State Department, target more than 100 entities and 50 people, including Russia’s State Corporation Rostec, a “massive” state-owned technological, aerospace and military-industrial enterprise. Treasury also issued several new general licenses.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned a network of Iranian petrochemical producers, as well as front companies in China and the United Arab Emirates. The front companies support Triliance and PCC, which broker sales of Iranian petrochemicals to China and East Asia, circumventing sanctions, OFAC said in a June 16 press release. The agency sanctioned two people and nine entities.
The Bureau of Industry and Security by now should have penalized Seagate Technologies for illegally exporting goods to Huawei, James Mulvenon, a China technology and military expert, wrote in a June 6 post for the Lawfare blog. Mulvenon said BIS’s “inaction” has emboldened other companies to export similar shipments and is indicative of a larger enforcement issue at BIS surrounding its foreign direct product rule for Huawei.
Toll Group Holdings, the Australian international logistics company fined earlier this week for sanctions violations, takes "compliance seriously” and has “acted to keep this from happening again," managing director Thomas Knudsen said in an April 25 email. The company's $6.13 million settlement with the Office of Foreign Assets Control covered liability for nearly 3,000 violations of several U.S. sanctions programs, including illegal payments connected to sea, air and rail shipments through multiple highly sanctioned countries, including North Korea, Iran and Syria (see 2204250015).