OFAC Authorizes Transactions Involving Venezuela’s Oil, Gas and Gold Sectors: In response to the democratic developments in Venezuela, OFAC on Oct. 18 issued four General Licenses suspending select Venezuela-related sanctions. The General Licenses authorize transactions involving Venezuela’s oil and gas sector and gold sector, as well as removing the ban on secondary trading. Read more. Read the FAQs.
OFAC took sanctions action over the last week in the terrorism, Iran and Balkans programs:
Terrorism-related Sanctions
- OFAC Sanctions Hamas Operatives and Financial Facilitators: In response to Hamas’s attack on Israel, OFAC on Oct. 18 imposed sanctions on ten key Hamas terrorist group members, operatives and financial facilitators in Gaza and elsewhere including Sudan, Türkiye, Algeria, and Qatar. OFAC is targeting HAMAS members managing assets in a secret Hamas investment portfolio, a Qatar-based financial facilitator with close ties to the Iranian regime, a key Hamas commander, and a Gaza-based virtual currency exchange, Buy Cash Money and Money Transfer Company and its operator. OFAC’s designations are part of a continuous effort by the United States to root out Hamas’s sources of revenue in the West Bank and Gaza and across the region and is taken in close coordination with regional partners and allies. Read more.
Iran-related Sanctions
- OFAC Sanctions Supporters of Iran’s Missile and UAV Programs, Issues Advisory: OFAC on Oct. 18 sanctioned 11 individuals, eight entities, and one vessel based in Iran, Hong Kong, China and Venezuela for enabling Iran’s destabilizing ballistic missile and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) programs. The designees have materially supported Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics (MODAFL), or their subordinates in the production and proliferation of missiles and UAVs. Read more. See identifying information on the designees.
- Related to this action, the Department of Commerce, the Department of State, the Department of the Treasury, and the Department of Justice published Iran Ballistic Missile Procurement Advisory to alert persons and businesses to Iran’s ballistic missile procurement activities. The advisory includes information on deceptive techniques used by Iranian ballistic missile procurement networks; key goods sought by Iran’s missile program; relevant U.S. sanctions and export control authorities; and, minimizing sanctions and export control risk, among others. Read the advisory.
Balkans-related Sanctions
- OFAC Sanctions Members of Milorad Dodik’s Family: OFAC on Oct. 20 designated two individuals and four entities that form a core part of Republika Srpska (RS) President Milorad Dodik’s network. OFAC designated Dodik’s adult children, Gorica Dodik and Igor Dodik. Dodik’s children and the designated entities facilitate Dodik’s ongoing corruption in Bosnia and Herzegovina, allowing him to siphon public funds from the RS and enrich himself and his family at the expense of BiH citizens. Read more.
