Saber Fakih

Saber Fakih, a 48-year-old British citizen, was sentenced to 18 months in prison for violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations. His case involved conspiring with Bader Fakih, Altaf Faquih, and Alireza Taghavi to export an Industrial Microwave System (IMS) and counter-drone system from the United States to Iran without the necessary licenses from the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).

Stefan Gillier

Stefan Gillier, the former president of RTF International Inc., was sentenced to 84 months in prison for his involvement in a multi-million-dollar fraud scheme. From 2004 to 2006, Gillier conspired to fraudulently obtain over $6 million worth of aircraft parts from Honeywell International and later from Pratt & Whitney Component Solutions. He used stopped check payments to receive the parts without paying for them, signing checks that were subsequently canceled under false pretenses.

daVinci Payments

In November 2023, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced a settlement with daVinci Payments, which manages prepaid reward card programs. DaVinci Payments agreed to pay $206,213 to resolve potential civil liability for apparent violations of U.S. sanctions on Crimea, Iran, Syria, and Cuba. Between November 2017 and July 2022, daVinci enabled reward cards to be redeemed by persons in these sanctioned jurisdictions.

Nasdaq, Inc.

In December 2023, Nasdaq, Inc. reached a settlement with the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) over apparent violations of Iran sanctions by its former wholly owned subsidiary, Nasdaq OMX Armenia. The violations involved the subsidiary providing services to Iran and the Government of Iran, resulting in 151 apparent violations of OFAC sanctions.

SCG Plastics Co., Ltd.

In 2024, SCG Plastics Co., Ltd., a part of a multinational enterprise headquartered in Bangkok, Thailand, was involved in a significant enforcement action by the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). The company agreed to pay $20 million to settle potential civil liability for 467 apparent violations of OFAC sanctions on Iran.

Avnet Asia Pte. Ltd

In 2021, Avnet Asia was charged by the U.S. Department of Justice for violating export control laws related to Iran. The charges included allegations that Avnet Asia, a subsidiary of the U.S.-based technology company Avnet Inc., illegally exported controlled U.S.-origin goods and technology to Iran through intermediaries in Hong Kong and China. These actions were in violation of U.S. sanctions against Iran, which prohibit the export of certain goods and services to the country due to concerns over its nuclear program and other activities.

Lebanon, in recent days, was thrown into turmoil after The Telegraph published a report exposing Hezbollah’s use of Beirut International Airport to smuggle and store weapons coming from Iran. 

As the U.S. continues to apply sanctions aimed at curbing Iranian oil exports—most recently on June 25—the regime in Tehran continues to get around them. One underreported tactic involves using Chinese shipyards to repair and maintain its fleet of tankers.

Despite being the world’s leading sponsor of terrorism and a major human rights abuser, the Islamic Republic receives unexpected rhetorical and in-person support from various Western sources. Part two of this miniseries of blog posts looks at Code Pink.

For years, Hassan Nasrallah, the secretary-general of Hezbollah, was promoting the narrative that Hezbollah is the "protector of Lebanon" from potential Israeli aggression.