The Office of Foreign Assets Control announced the following sanctions action last week.
Enforcement Action
- OFAC announces settlement with Harman International for Iran sanctions violations: On July 8, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced a $1,454,145 settlement with Harman International Industries, Inc., a multinational audio electronics company. The settlement resolves Harman’s potential civil liability for 11 apparent violations of OFAC sanctions on Iran. These violations arose from actions by a U.S.-based Harman subsidiary, which facilitated the diversion of products from its distributor in the United Arab Emirates to Iran. OFAC determined that the apparent violations were both egregious and voluntarily self-disclosed, which influenced the final settlement amount. Read more.
International Criminal Court-related Sanctions
- OFAC issues General License 8: On July 9, OFAC issued General License 8, allowing U.S. persons to wind down transactions involving Francesca Paola Albanese, a U.N.-affiliated lawyer, or any entity she owns 50% or more of. This authorization is valid until 12:01 a.m. EDT on Aug. 8, 2025, and any payments to blocked persons must be placed in a blocked account, as required by ICC-related sanctions regulations. Read more.
Iran-related Sanctions
- OFAC targets network of global entities with ties to Iran’s “shadow banking”: On July 9, OFAC designated 22 entities based in Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates, and Türkiye for facilitating the sale of Iranian oil in support of OFAC-designated, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF). This action, taken under Executive Order 13224 (as amended), represents the second wave of sanctions targeting Iran’s “shadow banking” network since the issuance of National Security Presidential Memorandum 2, which launched a maximum pressure campaign against Iran.
- The first round of sanctions occurred on June 6, when OFAC designated more than 30 individuals and entities linked to Iranian brothers Mansour, Nasser, and Fazlolah Zarringhalam. The trio allegedly laundered billions of dollars through the global financial system using Iranian exchange houses and foreign front companies under their control. Read more.
North Korea-related Sanctions
- OFAC sanctions North Korean IT workers: On July 8, OFAC sanctioned Song Kum Hyok, a cyber actor affiliated with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) Reconnaissance General Bureau (RGB)-linked hacking group, Andariel. Song played a key role in orchestrating an information technology worker scheme in which individuals—primarily DPRK nationals operating from countries such as China and Russia—were recruited and equipped with falsified identities and nationalities to secure employment at unsuspecting companies. The revenue generated through this scheme was funneled back to support the DPRK regime. In some instances, these IT workers also deployed malware within company networks to enable further exploitation.
- OFAC also designated Russian national Gayk Asatryan and four associated entities for their involvement in a Russia-based IT worker scheme that similarly generated revenue for the DPRK. Read more.
