OFAC is US Treasury sanctions bureau administering SDN designations across Iran, Russia, Cuba and cyber-threat programmes. OFAC is the US Treasury bureau that administers and enforces American economic sanctions across separate programmes: Iran, Russia, Cuba, North Korea and cyber-threats. It maintains the Specially Designated Nationals list, its primary blacklist tool, and issues general licences that carve narrow, time-limited exemptions into those regimes rather than lifting them outright. Its jurisdiction is extraterritorial: any firm transacting in dollars, clearing through US banks, or dealing with US-connected companies falls within reach, making it an instrument of global rather than purely bilateral pressure.

Enforcement has increasingly moved upstream from naming commodity buyers toward supply-chain interdiction, including a July action that named Russian nationals inside an Iranian arms-procurement network the bureau had previously reached only through Chinese shell firms . OFAC also routinely bundles designations with wind-down licences that give newly blocked parties a defined window to unwind existing deals, as it did when blacklisting around 28 tankers and Iran's central bank alongside a temporary General Licence Z , a mechanism distinct from its permanent SDN designations.

Key Issues

Iran sanctions

Iran designations stop for days

OFAC published no Iran-related designation between 31 July and 3 August, breaking a run in which it had named fresh targets every two to four days through late July. Its last dedicated Iran action was the Zanjani sanctions-evasion network, listed under Executive Order 13902 on 24 July, naming relatives, associates and payment firms including ZedX and BZ Diamond . Its newest listing since then, published 4 August, sits under the narrower INKSNA nonproliferation authority rather than the Iran sanctions programme .

Banks, insurers and shippers act on published blocked-persons entries, not statements of intent, so July's designations continue to govern trade into August regardless of the pause. A gap of this length only confirms nothing new reached the list; relief would still need a general licence, of which none has appeared .

Cuba sanctions

Cuba sanctions net keeps widening

OFAC's parent department confirmed on 31 July that GAESA, the Cuban military conglomerate, was designated on 7 May, earlier than the port, bank and hotel-fund sanctions against its subsidiaries already reported over the summer . The disclosure fills a gap in the public record rather than adding a new target.

The programme has widened well beyond state enterprises: a 23 July action designated the Central Unit for Medical Cooperation and Cuba's health minister, OFAC's first direct strike at the island's medical-missions export scheme, alongside the Mariel Container Terminal over an alleged ownership transfer meant to help GAESA dodge existing restrictions , .

Russia oil waiver

Waiver silence keeps squeezing buyers

OFAC has issued no successor to General Licence 134C, its waiver for already-loaded Russian crude cargoes, since it lapsed on 17 June. By 13 July the gap had reached 26 days, already the longest in the licence's history , and by 23 July, 36 days in, still nothing had followed.

Every earlier renewal in the series had landed within a day or two of expiry, so the gap reads as a choice rather than an oversight. Buyers losing legal cover for cargoes at sea turned to non-Western insurers instead, pushing Urals crude from $41.66 to $71.40 across the same stretch, achieving through inaction the kind of squeeze a fresh designation would otherwise have to state outright .

Common Questions

Cuba sanctions net keeps widening

What did OFAC do to Cuba on 13 July 2026?

The State Department designated ten Cuban entities under Executive Order 14404, the largest single-day batch since the 18 May wave. OFAC's same-day FAQ 1262 gave two of them, GECOMEX and GEMAR, a 30-day wind-down to 12 August, but issued no guidance for the tourism ministry MINTUR.Source: OFAC FAQ 1262, 13 Jul 2026

Reference

What is the SAIRAN OFAC designation and why does it matter?

On 29 May 2026 OFAC designated SAIRAN (trading as SAAFTA), a MODAFL-controlled procurement ring that impersonated US small businesses to obtain spectrum analysers and counter-surveillance hardware from American IT vendors. The action opened a criminal wire-fraud track alongside the existing oil-sanctions programme and came with a $15m State Department Rewards for Justice bounty on IRGC financial networks.Source: OFAC

What is OFAC General Licence 131G and what does it mean for ISAB Priolo?

GL-131G, issued 25 June 2026, authorised Lukoil International GmbH (and entities in which it holds 50%+) to negotiate the sale of its remaining European refining assets through 25 July 2026. It does not name ISAB, Priolo Gargallo or Italy: Litasco sold ISAB to GOI Energy in May 2023, and ISAB's live sale is GOI Energy to Ludoil Energy, gated by Italian Golden Power clearance and a Milan court seizure order, plus its own separate OFAC transaction licence, not the Lukoil GL-131 series. On 24 July 2026 OFAC amended FAQ 1224, setting three conditions for any future Lukoil International GmbH sale licence: complete severance from Lukoil, residual funds blocked in a US-jurisdiction account, and no windfall via asset or share swaps. Whether GL-131G itself was renewed past its 25 July expiry has not been confirmed.Source: Lowdown European Oil Markets

What is OFAC and how does it enforce sanctions?

OFAC (Office of Foreign Assets Control) is the US Treasury bureau that administers economic sanctions via the SDN list and general licences. Its reach covers any company using US dollars or clearing through US banks, giving it effective global jurisdiction regardless of where a firm is based.Source: editorial

Is OFAC's General Licence 131H a replacement for the lapsed Russia crude-oil waiver?

No. General Licence 131H, issued 24 July 2026, covers payment for legal services and replaces a reporting requirement with a recordkeeping one. It is not a successor to the lapsed GL 134C crude-oil waiver, and OFAC had issued no replacement for that waiver as of early August 2026.Source: US Treasury OFAC

Has OFAC issued an Iran sanctions waiver after the Islamabad MOU?

No waiver has followed the Islamabad MOU. If anything the opposite occurred: OFAC's General Licence X1, issued 7 July 2026, revoked the existing Iranian oil waiver (General Licence X) early rather than extending it.Source: OFAC recent-actions record

What is the PGSA and why did OFAC sanction it?

The Persian Gulf Strait Authority is the IRGC toll-collection body created on 5 May 2026. OFAC designated it under EO 13224 (counterterrorism) on 28 May, meaning any vessel coordinating with it would deal with a sanctioned entity regardless of the Islamabad MOU's reopening terms.Source: OFAC sb0502/EO 13224

Has OFAC sanctioned Chinese companies over Iran oil purchases?

Yes. OFAC designated Hengli Petrochemical (Dalian) on 24 April 2026 — the largest single-entity Chinese designation of the conflict — and CGSTL on 8 May. Mainland Chinese refineries otherwise remained off the SDN list through May 2026; OFAC targeted Hong Kong-registered shells instead to avoid triggering MOFCOM Blocking Rules.Source: OFAC

What happened when OFAC General License U expired in April 2026?

General License U, covering 325 tankers carrying $31.5 billion of Iranian crude, lapsed at 00:01 EDT on 19 April 2026 with no renewal. On the same day Treasury extended Russia's seaborne crude waiver (GL-134B) — creating the first signed Russia-yes, Iran-no asymmetry in US sanctions policy.Source: OFAC

Is General Licence Z the same as General Licence X1?

No. General Licence X1 winds down the revoked Iranian oil waiver, General Licence X, through 17 July 2026. General Licence Z is a separate licence OFAC issued on 14 July 2026 covering wind-down, safety and cargo-offloading transactions only for parties newly blocked that day.Source: OFAC recent-actions record, 14 Jul 2026

What did OFAC do to Iran on 14 July 2026?

OFAC designated more than 50 individuals, entities and vessels, including roughly 28 ships tied to Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani's shipping network, plus crypto addresses linked to Bank Markazi, Iran's central bank, and issued a new wind-down licence, General Licence Z, for the newly blocked parties.Source: OFAC recent-actions record, 14 Jul 2026

How long has the US crude oil waiver for Russia been lapsed?

General License 134C expired 17 June 2026 with no successor. As of 13 July the gap has reached 26 days, the longest of the war, up from 15 days on 1 July. No Treasury statement accompanies the lapse; it is inferred from the absence of a new licence.Source: S&P Global

How does OFAC's new Reconsideration Portal work for companies on the SDN list?

Launched 29 June 2026 (FAQ 1261), the portal allows parties across all OFAC sanctions programmes to apply for SDN removal through a streamlined reconsideration process rather than a full de-novo licensing application. It is a procedural reform, not a sanctions-relief signal.Source: Lowdown European Oil Markets

Why did OFAC sanction a Chinese satellite company over Iran?

On 8 May 2026, OFAC designated Chang Guang Satellite Technology (CGSTL) under IRAN-CON-ARMS-EO authority for supplying satellite imagery that supported IRGC military operations. It was the first extension of arms-grade Iran sanctions to a Chinese commercial space firm, creating compliance risk for every CGSTL customer globally.Source: OFAC

Source Material

Office of Foreign Assets Control — Wikipedia Office of Foreign Assets Control — US Department of the Treasury