Less than a week after a group of House Democrats introduced a resolution to block U.S. arms sales to Israel (see 2105240062), eight Republican senators said the sales should go through. The two sales, notified to Congress May 5, will help Israel defend itself “against Iran-backed Hamas terrorists,” said Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, who introduced a May 26 resolution approving the sales along with Marco Rubio of Florida, Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee and others. Republican senators also urged the Biden administration not to provide Iran sanctions relief under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action while the Israeli-Palestinian conflict continues (see 2105140027).
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories for May 10-14 in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching on the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
A group of Republican senators urged U.S. businesses to continue to stay out of the Iranian market even if the U.S. reenters the Iranian nuclear deal, saying any sanctions relief will be short-lived. The lawmakers said that relief will be “severely limited” if Republicans win back majorities in the House and Senate and if the U.S. elects a Republican president in 2024. They also criticized the Biden administration’s plan to reenter the deal, calling the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action a “deeply flawed” agreement.
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories for April 19-23 in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching on the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control fined an Oklahoma steel manufacturer about $435,000 for violating U.S. sanctions against Iran, OFAC said April 19. Alliance Steel committed 61 sanctions violation by maintaining a “business relationship” with an Iranian company for five years, OFAC said.
Chinese imports are helping grow sanctioned Iranian oil production to its highest levels in nearly two years, the Wall Street Journal reported April 15. The Journal, citing the International Energy Agency, said China has boosted its Iranian oil purchases to 600,000 barrels a day, which is five times higher than in the first nine months of 2020. The report said Chinese buyers appear to have increased their purchases after the U.S. election of President Joe Biden, who vowed a return to the Iranian nuclear deal, an agreement that had suspended certain sanctions against Iran. A U.S. lawmaker last week asked the State Department to provide information on whether China is violating U.S. sanctions on Iran (see 2104140053).
The European Council extended until April 13, 2022, its sanctions on Iran for the nation's serious human rights violations, a press release said. The EC also added eight individuals and three entities to the sanctions list for their roles in the violent response to November 2019 protests in Iran, bringing the totals to 89 individuals and four entities. The sanctions consist of a travel ban and an asset freeze along with a ban on exports to Iran of equipment that can be used for human rights violations and equipment for monitoring telecommunications.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control fined an Italian gas equipment manufacturer $950,000 for violating U.S. sanctions against Iran, OFAC said in a March 26 notice. The company, Nordgas S.r.l., knowingly reexported 27 shipments of U.S.-origin “air pressure switches” to Iran, OFAC said, and caused a U.S. company to “indirectly” export goods to Iran.
Ten Iranian nationals are charged with running a 20-year scheme to evade U.S. sanctions on Iran by disguising more than $300 million worth of transactions, the Department of Justice said in a March 19 news release. The Iranian citizens allegedly made the purchases, including two $25 million oil tankers, on Iran's behalf via front companies in Los Angeles, Canada, Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates, DOJ said. The U.S. District Court of Los Angeles case, filed in October 2020, was unsealed on March 19. A separate forfeiture complaint was filed the same day on the same individuals, seeking a money laundering penalty of $157,332,367. The individuals are accused of violating the Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations, Iranian Financial Sanctions Regulations and the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. They face a maximum of 20 years in federal prison if convicted, although they are believed to be located outside the U.S.
Iran’s Foreign Affairs Ministry said Feb. 28 it doesn’t yet want to meet with European countries and the U.S. about the Iran nuclear deal, and called on the U.S. to lift sanctions before any meeting will take place. Iran said it “is not a good time for holding an unofficial meeting on the accord” because “there has been no change in the United States’ stances and behavior.” Iran also said the Biden administration has “not only failed to abandon [former President Donald] Trump’s failed policy of maximum pressure, but has also failed to declare its commitment” to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. Once the U.S. lifts its sanctions, Iran said, it will return to the deal. The U.S. previously said it doesn’t plan to lift sanctions on Iran until the two sides meet (see 2102220049).