28JUL

OFAC clears 18 duplicates from the list

1 min read

09:28UTC

The Office of Foreign Assets Control removed 18 duplicate entries from the US sanctions list on 27 July. The underlying designations are unchanged.

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Key takeaway

OFAC deleted 18 duplicate sanctions records on 27 July; every designation behind them stands.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the US Treasury unit that administers American sanctions, removed 18 duplicate entries from its Specially Designated Nationals list on Monday 27 July as part of a modernisation exercise⁠¹. Every underlying designation stays in force⁠².

The SDN list is the register banks, insurers and shipping brokers screen against before they move money or accept cargo, and duplicates in it produce false matches that compliance teams then have to clear by hand. Removing them changes what a screening engine returns; it changes nothing about who is sanctioned.

The distinction is worth holding onto in a week when a delisting could be read as a concession. Treasury designated a network of Iranian firms linked to the oil trader Babak Zanjani under Executive Order 13902 on 24 July; that was policy, aimed at named companies. Deleting duplicate rows three days later is maintenance on the register those designations sit in.

Deep Analysis

In plain English

The US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control, the agency that manages sanctions lists, removed 18 duplicate entries from its Iran-related sanctions list on 27 July. This was routine list cleaning, not a policy change: the people and entities still under sanctions remain sanctioned, only the duplicate paperwork entries were deleted.

Sources:US Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control·US Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control

Mentions:OFAC →Babak Zanjani →US Treasury →Iran →Executive Order 13902 →

First Reported In

Update #163 · Pentagon puts four dead back, renames war

US Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control· 28 Jul 2026

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Different Perspectives

Wang Yi

China's foreign minister and Djibouti's issued a joint communique on 21 October saying the war should not reach the Horn of Africa and stressing free navigation through Bab al-Mandeb. The text names neither Iran nor the Houthis, and Djibouti hosts China's only overseas military base, opposite the Yemeni coast.

Ministry of External Affairs

India's foreign ministry called the attacks on Saudi civilian and energy sites "unacceptable" on 22 October and said they must stop at once. An Indian died at Dammam, Indians were injured there and at Shaybah, and about 4,000 Umrah pilgrims remain stranded by one MP's count.

Iraq

Iraq closed the al-Sheeb crossing with Iran to travellers and trucks from 21 October and said other crossings would close gradually. Unlike September's closure, which ended on a staged timetable, this one has none, and Iran's interior ministry said it received no notice.

Abdel Fattah el-Sisi

Egypt's president said on 21 October that Cairo's support would "defend Saudi territory, and does not include an attack on Yemen". Araghchi warned that Egyptian involvement would further complicate the situation, and Cairo's limit matches the one Ankara set on 8 October against attacking another state's soil.

UK Ministry of Defence

The MoD said on 20 October that RAF Typhoons over Saudi Arabia will not strike the Houthis, but extended tanker support to Saudi operations including against Houthi targets in Yemen. The tanker line sets no limit on strikes, so British aircraft may now refuel Saudi jets on bombing runs.

Turkey

Ankara sent the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement to parliament around 20 October, and its published text treats an attack on one party as an attack on all. Article 16 brings it into force only on the last ratification, so the 5 October invocation in Riyadh could not yet bind Turkey.

Written with AI from Lowdown's published reporting. Not individually reviewed by an editor. Editorial standards.