The Biden administration could soon lift certain sanctions against Venezuela as it recalibrates its strategy toward the country amid global oil shortages, experts said. But they also said it remains unclear if those moves will entice President Nicolas Maduro regime to hold free and fair elections or stop committing human rights violations.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned nine people and 12 entities this week in an effort to counter "persistent malign influence campaigns and systemic corruption in Moldova" by Russian actors, the agency said.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned 10 Iranian officials, two Iranian intelligence actors and two other Iranian entities related to the ongoing crackdown on protests in Iran and the Iranian government’s efforts to disrupt digital freedom, according to an Oct. 26 press release.

President Joe Biden signed an executive order this week authorizing new sanctions and trade restrictions against Nicaragua. The U.S. also announced new Nicaragua-related designations and issued a general license.

In coordination with DOJ and the FBI, the Office of Foreign Assets Control has added one individual and two organizations to its Specially Designated Nationals list, according to an Oct. 19 notice.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control added three individuals and four entities to its Specially Designated Nationals list in connection with alleged narcotics trafficking, according to an Oct. 19 notice.

Puerto Rico-based Nodus International Bank violated U.S. sanctions against Venezuela when it allowed an undisclosed sanctioned person to open and operate several accounts, the Office of Foreign Assets Control said Oct. 18. The bank also violated U.S. sanctions reporting regulations because it failed to maintain accurate records of its handling of the blocked property, OFAC said. The agency issued the bank a “Finding of Violation” instead of a fine due to several mitigating factors, including the fact that Nodus voluntarily disclosed the violations.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control has designated 14 individuals it says are part of "a network of al-Shabaab financial facilitators," according to an Oct. 17 OFAC notice. The targets have functioned as facilitators between the group and companies in Somalia, and have organized financing, money laundering, and weapons smuggling on behalf of the network, OFAC said. Other designees oversee the group's smuggling and weapons trafficking network in Yemen.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week renewed a general license that authorizes certain transactions with Russia-based Public Joint Stock Company Transkapitalbank. General License 28A, which replaces GL 28, renews the authorization through 12:01 a.m. EST Jan. 18, 2023, for transactions with TKB and its majority-owned subsidiaries if those transactions are destined for or originating from Afghanistan. The license was scheduled to expire Oct. 20 (see 2204200055).

Russian semiconductor imports have dropped 70% since the country became subject to broad Western sanctions and export controls earlier this year, the Commerce, Treasury and State departments said in a joint alert last week. The alert, which provides an overview of the U.S. restrictions, said the measures are having "significant and long-lasting consequences on Russia’s defense industrial base," which relies extensively on foreign-sourced items, especially on imported microelectronics. Russia's semiconductor shortage has also dramatically dropped automobile and consumer electronics production, the alert said. Sanctions and export controls have resulted in "a sharp economic contraction for Russia" that will continue to drag on the Russian economy for years, the alert said.