The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned three Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and Security officials who OFAC said were involved in the abduction, detention and "probable death" of former FBI agent Robert Levinson. OFAC said Iranian officials Reza Amiri Moghadam, Gholamhossein Mohammadnia and Taqi Daneshvar "all played a role in Mr. Levinson’s abduction, probable death, and Iran’s efforts to cover up or obfuscate their responsibility." Levinson disappeared in Iran in 2007 while on a CIA mission.
The U.K. this year plans to update its export controls to align them with changes recently made by the multilateral Wassenaar Arrangement, Nuclear Suppliers Group and Australia Group. The updates include changes to the technical parameters for certain advanced artificial intelligence chip uses; revisions to the definitions for “spacecraft,” “satellite,” “space probe” and “space vehicle”; and more. The U.K. said it plans to make the changes this spring.
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The State and Treasury departments should form a task force to “robustly investigate and sanction” illicit gold trafficking networks, a watchdog group representative told a House panel March 25.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is adding 82 entities, mostly in mainland China, to the Entity List, targeting technology companies, chip firms, electronics businesses and others for their ties to Chinese military end-users. The additions, the first since President Donald Trump took office in January, also target entities in Taiwan, Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates, South Africa and Iran for a range of reasons that BIS said are “contrary to the national security and foreign policy” of the U.S.
The Department of the Treasury last week dropped sanctions against cryptocurrency mixer Tornado Cash following a review of the "novel legal and policy issues raised by use of financial sanctions against financial and commercial activity occurring within evolving technology and legal environments." Treasury told a Texas court it removed Tornado Cash from the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons list, arguing that a case against the sanctions listing should now be briefed on whether the issue is moot (Van Loon, et al. v. Department of the Treasury, W.D. Tex. # 23-00312).
Senate Banking Committee ranking member Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, urged the Trump administration March 20 to consider further easing sanctions on Syria to help the war-torn country rebuild following last year’s fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime.
Three House members announced March 21 that they have introduced a companion bill to Senate legislation that would restrict U.S. outbound investment in China.
Canada last week announced new sanctions against people in Haiti and Venezuela for their ties to human rights violations and causing instability within the countries.
The U.K.’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation this week sanctioned four current or former Sri Lankan officials for human rights violations and revised an existing entry for a sanctioned Russian business executive.