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OFAC sanctions supporter of Iranian chemical weapons research
On December 3, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced sanctions against a subordinate to the Iranian Organization of Defensive Innovation and Research and its director for its involvement in Iran’s chemical weapons research. The government made the sanctions designations pursuant to Executive Order 13382, which aims to freeze the assets of proliferators of weapons of mass destruction along with their supporters. As a result, all property and interests in property belonging to, or owned by, the designated persons subject to U.S. jurisdiction are blocked, and U.S. persons are also generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with them. OFAC further warned foreign financial institutions that knowingly facilitating significant transactions or providing significant support to the designated persons may subject them to U.S. sanctions.
Additionally, OFAC updated and issued several Iran-related FAQs.
OFAC sanctions network for financially contributing to the Supreme Leader of Iran
On November 18, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control announced sanctions against “a key patronage network for the Supreme Leader of Iran” (Foundation)—a conglomerate of roughly 160 holdings in key sectors of Iran’s economy, including finance, energy, construction, and mining—along with Iran’s Minister of Intelligence and Security. The Foundation is being designated pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13876, which also targets the Supreme Leader of Iran, the Iranian Supreme Leader’s Office (SLO), as well as their affiliates. According to OFAC, the Foundation, among other things, allegedly transferred large amounts of money to the SLO and made financial contributions to candidates for Iran’s presidential election. The Foundation also allegedly “maintains control of its economic empire through a network of holding companies touching nearly every sector of the Iranian economy.” Seven of these companies have also been designated, “along with dozens of their owned-or-controlled subordinate entities, as well as a number of “independent” Foundation owned-or-controlled subsidiaries and their owned-or-controlled subordinate companies.” The Iranian Minister of Intelligence and Security is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13553 for “having acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, the [Ministry of Intelligence and Security],” which plays “a key role in the Iranian regime’s brutal human rights abuses against the Iranian people.”
As a result, all property and interests in property belonging to, or owned by, the designated persons subject to U.S. jurisdiction are blocked, and U.S. persons are also generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with them. OFAC further warned foreign financial institutions that knowingly facilitating significant transactions or providing significant support to the designated persons may subject them to U.S. correspondent account or payable-through account sanctions.
OFAC sanctions network for procuring goods for Iranian military firm
On November 10, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced sanctions against a network of six companies and four individuals for allegedly facilitating the procurement of sensitive goods—including U.S.-origin electronic components—for an Iranian military firm that was previously designated by the U.S. and the European Union for being owned or controlled by Iran’s Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics. The designations are being taken pursuant to Executive Order 13382, which aims to freeze the assets of proliferators of weapons of mass destruction along with their supporters. As a result, all property and interests in property belonging to, or owned by, the designated persons subject to U.S. jurisdiction are blocked, and U.S. persons are also generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with them. OFAC further warned foreign financial institutions that knowingly facilitating significant transactions or providing significant support to the designated persons may subject them to U.S. sanctions.
Concurrent with OFAC’s designations, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia filed a criminal complaint against two of the designated entities and one of the designated individuals for conspiring to violate U.S. export laws and sanctions against Iran.
OFAC sanctions entities for Iranian petrochemical sales
On October 29, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced sanctions pursuant to Executive Order 13846 against eight entities for their alleged “involvement in the sale and purchase of Iranian petrochemical products brokered by [a petrochemical company]. . .designated by Treasury in January 2020.” The designated entities—based in Iran, China, and Singapore—allegedly aided the petrochemical company’s efforts to process and move funds generated by the sale of these products, which were then used to finance the Iranian regime’s “destabilizing agenda of support to corrupt regimes and terrorist groups throughout the Middle East and, more recently, Venezuela.”
In addition, OFAC also updated its List of Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons to add additional aliases for an Iraq-based bank that was previously designated, among other things, for being “used by Iran’s Central Bank Governor to covertly funnel millions of dollars on behalf of the IRGC-QF to support Hizballah.”
As a result, all property and interests in property belonging to, or owned by, the designated persons subject to U.S. jurisdiction are blocked, and U.S. persons are also “generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with them.” OFAC further warned foreign financial institutions that knowingly facilitating significant transactions or providing significant support to the designated persons may subject them to sanctions that terminate their access to the U.S. financial system.
OFAC sanctions Iranian Ministry of Petroleum and others for IRGC-QF support
On October 26, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated the Iranian Ministry of Petroleum and two oil companies, as well as multiple entities and individuals, including front companies, subsidiaries, and senior executives, for allegedly providing financial support to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF), pursuant to Executive Order 13224. Additionally, OFAC designated four persons involved in the sale of Iranian gasoline to “the illegitimate Maduro regime in Venezuela.” As a result, all property and interests in property belonging to the identified individuals subject to U.S. jurisdiction are blocked, and “any entities that are owned, directly or indirectly, 50 percent or more by such persons, are also blocked.” U.S. persons are generally prohibited from dealing with any property or interests in property of blocked or designated persons, and OFAC warned foreign financial institutions that if they knowingly facilitate significant transactions for the designated persons they “risk exposure to sanctions that could sever their access to the U.S. financial system or block their property and interests in property under U.S. jurisdiction.”
Concurrently, OFAC issued amended General License 8A, “Authorizing Certain Humanitarian Trade Transactions Involving the Central Bank of Iran or the National Iranian Oil Company,” which replaces and supersedes GL 8 and allows certain humanitarian trade transactions involving one of the designated oil entities.
OFAC sanctions Iranian entities connected to IRGC-QF
On October 22, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced sanctions pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13848 against five Iranian entities for allegedly attempting to influence the U.S. electoral process. According to OFAC, these designations are intended to “counter efforts” from foreign actors that “spread[] disinformation online and execut[e] malign influence operations aimed at misleading U.S. voters.” Three of the entities, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the IRGC-Qods Force (IRGC-QF), are designated “for having directly or indirectly engaged in, sponsored, concealed, or otherwise been complicit in foreign interference in the 2020 U.S. presidential election.” Two other entities are designated for being owned or controlled by the IRGC-QF, which, along with the IRGC, has been designated under a number of authorities since 2007. As a result, all property and interests in property belonging to, or owned by, the designated persons subject to U.S. jurisdiction are blocked, and “any entities 50 percent or more owned by one or more designated persons are also blocked.”
The same day, OFAC also sanctioned an IRGC-QF general pursuant to E.O. 13224 for allegedly “exploit[ing] his position as the Iranian regime’s ambassador in Iraq to obfuscate financial transfers conducted for the benefit of the IRGC-QF.” According to OFAC, the designated individual, among other things, allegedly facilitated financial transfers benefiting the IRGC-QF, and helped “IRGC-QF obtain foreign currency in Iraq, in return for equivalent sums that the IRGC-QF in Iran has transferred to relevant entities.”
As a result of OFAC’s recent actions, all property and interests in property belonging to, or owned by, the designated persons subject to U.S. jurisdiction are blocked. U.S. persons are also “generally prohibited from engaging in transactions” with the designated individuals. OFAC further warned foreign financial institutions that knowingly facilitating significant transactions or providing significant support to the designated entities may subject them to sanctions and could terminate access to the U.S. financial system.
OFAC sanctions 18 major Iranian banks
On October 8, the U.S. Treasury Department announced that the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State, sanctioned 18 major Iranian banks, consistent with E.O. 13902, which identified Iran’s financial sector “as an additional avenue that funds the Iranian government’s malign activities.” E.O. 13902 provides Treasury with the authority to sanction any Iranian financial institution. The sanctioned banks include 16 banks operating in Iran’s financial sector and one bank that is owned or controlled by a sanctioned Iranian bank. In addition, OFAC sanctioned an Iranian military-affiliated bank under Treasury’s counter-proliferation authority pursuant to E.O. 13382. “Today’s action to identify the financial sector and sanction eighteen major Iranian banks reflects our commitment to stop illicit access to U.S. dollars,” Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin stated. OFAC noted that the sanctions under E.O. 13902 do not affect existing authorizations and exceptions for humanitarian trade (covered by a Buckley Special Alert), “which remain in full force and effect for these seventeen banks.”
As a result, all property and interests in property of the designated entities that are in the U.S. or in the possession or control of U.S. persons must be blocked and reported to OFAC. U.S. persons are also generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with the designated entities. OFAC is providing a 45-day period for non-U.S. persons to wind down non-humanitarian transactions that may become subject to sanctions as a result of the designations. OFAC further warned that “financial institutions and other persons that engage in certain transactions or activities with the sanctioned entities after a 45-day wind-down period may expose themselves to secondary sanctions or be subject to an enforcement action.”
Concurrent with the action, OFAC issued General License L, which outlines transactions and activities involving the sanctioned entities “that are authorized, exempt, or otherwise not prohibited under the Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations.” Additional guidance is also provided in recently issued FAQs.
OFAC settles Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations violations
On September 24, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced a $473,157 settlement with a California-based equipment and software company for six apparent violations of the Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations (ITSR). According to OFAC’s web notice, from roughly January 2016 to June 2016, the company—through a former subsidiary it had since merged with—allegedly reexported U.S. export-controlled test measurement equipment to Iran. Among other things, OFAC noted that prior to the merger, the subsidiary “committed to cease all existing and future business” with certain sanctioned countries, including Iran. However, after the acquisition, certain subsidiary personnel continued to engage in transactions with Iran, with three employees taking “measures to obfuscate from [the company] their dealings with Iran.”
In arriving at the settlement amount, OFAC considered various aggravating factors, including that (i) the subsidiary willfully violated the ITSR by shipping products in order to bypass the company’s directive to cease Iran-related business; and (ii) some of the subsidiary’s senior branch and sales managers knowingly participated in the apparent violations.
OFAC also considered various mitigating factors, including that the company (i) fully cooperated with OFAC’s investigation; (ii) undertook several remedial measures, such as terminating the appropriate employees; (iii) “assess[ed] past and current transactions for compliance with OFAC regulations, implement[ed] mechanisms to halt current transactions, and ensur[ed] that no further transactions involved restricted countries”; and (iv) enhanced its sanctions compliance program to minimize the risk of similar violations from occurring in the future.
OFAC issues Iran nuclear and ballistic missile program sanctions
On September 21, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated three high-ranking individuals of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), numerous AEOI subsidiaries, equipment supply companies, and various senior officials working on Iran’s missile programs pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13382, which allows for sanctions for engaging in or supporting the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD). As a result of the sanctions, all property and interests in property of the designated persons that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons must be blocked and reported to OFAC. OFAC further warned foreign financial institutions that knowingly facilitating significant transactions or providing significant support to the designated entities may subject them to sanctions and could sever access to the U.S. financial system.
In addition, the U.S. Department of Treasury announced a new Executive Order titled, "Blocking Property of Certain Persons with Respect to the Conventional Arms Activities of Iran,” which authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury, in conjunction with the Secretary of State, to impose asset blocking sanctions on any person engaged in any activity that materially contributes to the supply, sale, or transfer of destabilizing conventional weapons and acquisition of arms and related materiel by Iran.
OFAC sanctions Iranian cyber threat group
On September 17, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned an Iranian cyber threat group, 45 associated individuals, and one additional “front company” for allegedly being involved in a Government of Iran (GOI) malware campaign targeting international travel companies, Iranian dissidents, and journalists. Specifically, OFAC alleges that the front company “advances Iranian national security objectives and the strategic goals of Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) by conducting computer intrusions and malware campaigns against perceived adversaries.” OFAC asserts that the 45 individuals provided support for MOIS cyber intrusions by serving as managers, programmers, and hacking experts. The front company has allegedly targeted hundreds of individuals and entities from more than 30 different countries, including using “malicious cyber intrusion tools” to target approximately 15 U.S. companies primarily in the travel sector.
As a result, all property and interests in property belonging to, or owned by, the identified individuals subject to U.S. jurisdiction are blocked, and “any entities 50 percent or more owned by one or more designated persons are also blocked.” U.S. persons are also generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with the designated individuals.
The FBI also issued a Public Intelligence Alert on the Iranian cyber threat group.