The State Department announced sanctions on the former director general of Sudan’s National Intelligence and Security Services, the agency said in an Aug. 14 press release. Salah Abdalla Mohamed Mohamed Salih was sanctioned for “gross violations of human rights,” including accusations of torture, while he was head of Sudan’s NISS, the press release said. The State Department is also sanctioning Salih’s family members: Awatif Ahmed Seed Ahmed Mohamed and Shima Salah Abdallah Mohamed.
The Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control is holding its 2019 Fall Symposium on Nov. 12 in Washington, D.C., OFAC said in an Aug. 14 notice. The symposium will feature a “comprehensive review” of U.S. sanctions and OFAC staff will be available to answer questions, the agency said. Registration is open, but the agency has not yet released an agenda. According to the webpage for the event, the agenda will be made available at the event.
The U.S.’s second round of Russian sanctions are expected to have a “minimal” impact, according to a post by Norton Rose Fulbright.
Switzerland renewed sanctions against 18 Venezuelan senior government officials who were sanctioned by the country in March 2018, according to an Aug. 5 notice from Switzerland’s Federal Department of Economic Affairs and an Aug. 9 post from the European Union Sanctions blog. The renewals took effect Aug. 7.
The United Nations on July 30 issued North Korean sanctions exemptions to two companies to allow them to export agricultural-related goods to North Korea. The two companies, Italy-based Agrotec SPA and Germany-based Deutsche Welthungerhilfe, are authorized to send North Korea goods for humanitarian purposes, including “improving food security” and the health of North Korean citizens.
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control on Aug. 6 updated an entry on its Specially Designated Nationals List to include additional locations, addresses and other identifying information for Fadi Hussein Serhan. Serhan was designated in 2015 for acting as a Hizballah procurement agent and general manager of Beirut-based Vatech SARL, which he used to buy “sensitive technology and equipment for Hizballah,” according to OFAC.
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control issued a set of frequently asked questions and amended the Iranian Financial Sanctions Regulations to implement a May executive order that imposed sanctions on Iran iron, steel, aluminum and copper, OFAC said in a notice scheduled to be published in the Aug. 7 Federal Register. The executive order was intended to cut off revenue streams from Iran’s metals sectors that fund the country’s nuclear weapons program, the notice said. The amendments to the sanctions regulations change the heading “Iranian Human Rights Abuses Sanctions Regulations” to the “Iranian Sector and Human Rights Abuses Sanctions Regulations” to reflect U.S. sanctions on Iran’s metal sectors.
The Office of the High Commissioner for the United Nations Human Rights issued a report calling for sanctions against Myanmar and companies run by the country’s military, the OHCHR said in an Aug. 5 press release. The report also calls for an arms embargo and cites 14 foreign companies from seven nations that have exported “fighter jets, armored combat vehicles, warships, missiles and missile launchers” to Myanmar since 2016. The sanctions and arms embargo will weaken the country’s military and stop Myanmar from committing human rights violations, OHCHR said. The report specifically mentions Myanmar companies Myanmar Economic Holdings Limited and Myanmar Economic Corporation, which it said are owned by military leaders. The two companies control “at least 120 businesses involved in everything from construction to pharmaceuticals, manufacturing, insurance, tourism and banking,” the press release said.
U.S. sanctions on Iran will force the country to come to the negotiating table but may be permanently damaging U.S. relationships with other trading partners, said James Cartwright, a former vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and a current board director for the Atlantic Council.
Iran said it may take a “third step” to further breach the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action if the agreement’s parties do not do more to mitigate the U.S.’s 2018 withdrawal from the JCPOA, the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in an Aug. 1 press conference. Iran also called on the agreement's parties to help mitigate the impacts of U.S. sanctions. “Sanctions make fulfilling some of our promises harder … [but] one of the opportunities that sanctions provide us is increased empathy and cooperation among us,” Iran said. Iran last month surpassed the enriched uranium limit that was agreed to as part of the JCPOA, sparking concern from the European Union and additional threats of sanctions by the U.S. (see 1907080019).