Estonia has recently seen an uptick in shipments of imported plywood that it suspects of violating EU sanctions against Russia, the country’s tax and customs agency said this month.
The U.K. this week revised its Russia-related sanctions evasion guidance to update its list of countries and items that pose high risk of sanctions circumvention.
A Wisconsin man pleaded guilty on July 28 to smuggling goods from the U.S. to Russia, DOJ announced. Andrew Pogosyan, through his company, Omega Diagnostics, evaded export controls on Russia by shipping "scientific and diagnostic research equipment components to Russia without the required licenses," DOJ said.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned more than 115 people, entities and vessels for their ties to Iran, including for their part in a “vast shipping empire” controlled by Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani, the son of a top political adviser to the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ali Shamkhani. The designations -- which target a network generating tens of billions of dollars for Iran by moving oil and petroleum products from Iran and Russia to buyers around the world -- represent the U.S.'s largest Iran-related sanctions action since 2018, OFAC said.
A Lebanese national was sentenced on July 21 to 44 months in prison for attempting to unlawfully export goods from the U.S. to Iran without a license, attempting to smuggle goods from the U.S., submitting false export information and conspiring to commit money laundering, DOJ announced. Brian Assi was convicted in October 2024 of trying to export "U.S.-made heavy machinery" to Iran (see 2410250042).
The latest EU sanctions package against Russia, adopted last week, lowers the price cap on Russian oil, introduces more import and export restrictions and designates a range of vessels and companies helping Russia move energy products and evade sanctions.
The U.N. Security Council isn’t yet ready to follow the U.S. in removing a broad range of sanctions against Syria, said Thomas Barrack, the Trump administration’s special envoy to Syria and ambassador to Turkey.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned more than 20 entities in Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates and Turkey for helping to sell Iranian oil in support of the country's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force. The designations target some companies that OFAC said have bought hundreds of millions of dollars of Iranian oil combined.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control last week sanctioned a network of companies and a vessel for helping to ship sensitive machinery to Iran, including from China.
Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., co-chairman of the House’s Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, said June 10 that he plans to reintroduce a bill that would sanction foreign entities and individuals who directly engage in transnational repression.