A Turkish government-owned bank was charged with fraud, money laundering and conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act after working with Iran to evade U.S. sanctions, the Justice Department said in an Oct. 15 press release. The bank -- Turkiye Halk Bankasi A.S., also known as Halkbank -- helped run the “multibillion-dollar scheme” by deceiving U.S. regulators and foreign banks and lying to U.S. authorities, the press release said.
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with some of the top stories for Sept. 30 - Oct. 4 in case they were missed.
A U.S. manufacturing company disclosed it may have violated U.S. sanctions on Iran, in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company, H.B. Fuller, said it voluntarily disclosed the possible violations to the Treasury Department in September 2018 after discovering its subsidiaries in Turkey and India may have sold its products to customers who then resold them to Iran. The possible violations began in Turkey in 2011 and in India in 2014, the company’s Sept. 27 filing said, and involved the resale of “hygiene products.”
China criticized the U.S.’s decision to sanction Chinese companies and people for transferring oil from Iran, saying it will take “necessary measures” if the sanctions are not revoked. “We strongly urge the U.S. to immediately correct its wrongdoing,” a China Foreign Ministry spokesperson said during a Sept. 26 press conference, according to a transcript in English released by the Chinese Embassy in Washington. “China has taken and will continue to take necessary measures to safeguard the legal rights and interests of its businesses.”
The U.S. does not plan on easing sanctions on Iran, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said, even after reports that the administration considered lifting restrictions to encourage a meeting between President Donald Trump and Iran's President Hassan Rouhani (see 1909110039).
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control announced sanctions on Iran two days after President Donald Trump instructed the Treasury to increase pressure on the country. The sanctions target the Central Bank of Iran, the National Development Fund of Iran and Etemad Tejarate Pars Co. for funding Iran’s military and contributing to terrorism, Treasury said in a Sept. 20 press release.
President Donald Trump said the U.S. will increase sanctions on Iran after his administration suggested Iran was behind an attack on Saudi Arabia's oil facilities.
Iraq wants to increase trade with the U.S. and make market access for U.S. companies more attractive, Iraq's Ambassador to the U.S. Fareed Yasseen said. But Yasseen also said Iraq is opposed to U.S. sanctions on Iran and will not take a side as tensions escalate. Yasseen said Iraq is working on two draft laws to boost trade and standardize entrances at customs border gates to convince U.S. companies to do business in the country. “Simply put, we would like U.S. businesses and U.S. society to have a role in the reconstruction of Iraq,” Yasseen said, speaking during a Sept. 10 Atlantic Council event.
A top Treasury Department official criticized Britain's decision to release an Iranian oil tanker and defended the U.S.’s maximum pressure sanctions campaign against Iran, saying the U.S. will not ease Iran sanctions ahead of a potential meeting between the two countries. Gibraltar's decision to release the Iranian oil tanker Adrian Darya 1, previously named Grace 1, was an “expensive mistake,” said Marshall Billingslea, Treasury’s assistant secretary for terrorist financing. Gibraltar seized the ship in July after suspecting it of transporting oil to Syria, but later released the tanker after Iran promised it would not ship oil to Syria, which would violate international sanctions. Despite the promises, the ship delivered oil to Syria (see 1909110042).
The Congressional Research Service released a report Sept. 11 on U.S. sanctions on Iran, detailing how sanctions are used within the Trump administration, the impact of the U.S.’s withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action and more. The 110-page report includes information on how sanctions are triggered; what type of trade between the two countries is allowed; detailed descriptions of U.S. sanctions on Iran’s oil, energy and military sectors; an overview of European sanctions on Iran; and possible future sanctions.