The Office of Foreign Assets Control last week sanctioned Iranian technology company Arvan Cloud, two of its senior employees and an affiliated business in the United Arab Emirates for helping the Iranian government’s internet censorship. The agency said Arvan Cloud, also known as Navyan Abr Arvan Private Limited Co., is a “key partner” of Iran’s Information and Communications Technology Ministry and was co-founded by Pouya Pirhosseinloo and Farhad Fatemi. Also designated was Dubai-based ArvanCloud Global Technologies, which provides cloud services on behalf of Arvan Cloud.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned members and affiliates of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the IRGC-Qods Force who have ties to the groups’ terrorist and assasination plots in the U.S. and abroad. The designations target various IRGC officials and associates, along with Rey Havacilik Ithalat Ihracat Sanayi Ve Ticaret Anonim Sirketi, a Turkey-based airline, for assisting the group’s operations. Brian Nelson, undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said they help Iran target “those they deem enemies of the Iranian regime.”

The U.S. this week issued its first set of Sudan sanctions since a May executive order expanded U.S. sanctions authority against the country (see 2305040037), designating four companies, including its largest defense firm, earning revenue or contributing to Sudan’s ongoing military conflict. The designations, announced June 1 by the Office of Foreign Assets Control, include four new general licenses to authorize certain essential transactions, including for humanitarian aid.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control issued a new Russia-related general license this week that authorizes certain transactions involving Hungary-based International Investment Bank, which was sanctioned in April for being a Russia-controlled financial institution (see 2304120039). New GL 69 authorizes certain transactions “necessary to the processing of interest or principal payments on debt securities issued” by the bank before April 12, 2023. Those transactions are authorized through 12:01 a.m. EDT on June 30 as long as the interest or principal payments are not made to people located in Russia and that any payments to a sanctioned person are made into a blocked account in accordance with the Russian Harmful Foreign Activities Sanctions Regulations. Certain other conditions apply.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control published previously issued General License 8G under its Russian Harmful Foreign Activities Sanctions Regulations. The full text of the license is available in the notice.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned two Syrian money service businesses this week, saying they help the Syrian regime, run by Bashar al-Assad, and its sanctioned allies access the international financial system. The designations target Damascus-based Al-Fadel Exchange along with the three brothers that own the company -- Fadel Ma’ruf Balwi, Mut’i Ma’ruf Balwi and Muhammad Ma’ruf Balwi -- and Al-Adham Exchange Company, also based in Damascus. The businesses have helped transfer millions of dollars to accounts at the U.S.-sanctioned Central Bank of Syria to benefit the Syrian government, OFAC said.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned 17 people and entities involved in selling equipment used to make illegal drugs, including seven entities and six people based in China and one entity and three people in Mexico. The designations target companies that supply pill press machines, die molds and other equipment used to “impress counterfeit trade markings of legitimate pharmaceuticals onto illicitly produced pills,” including China-based Youli Technology Development Co. and Yason General Machinery along with Mexico-based Mexpacking Solutions. The agency also sanctioned the owners and employees of those companies and others.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control published four previously issued general licenses under its Cyber-Related, Non-Proliferation, and Hostages and Wrongfully Detained U.S. Nationals sanctions programs. The full text of each license is available in the notice.

Several companies this month disclosed potential export control or sanctions violations or updated the status of their current disclosures, including an information technology services company, an investment firm and a digital asset services company. The potential violations involve a business trying to exit the Russian market, a company potentially illegally sending export-controlled data and a firm waiting years for a response to two sanctions disclosures.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control on May 25 removed more than 20 entries from its Specially Designated Nationals List. The entries were originally added for counter-narcotics sanctions reasons and include people and companies located in Colombia and Venezuela. OFAC didn’t provide more information.