Tag: Sanctions and embargoes

Vise tightening on Myanmar’s economy 3 years after military takeover triggered civil strife

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BANGKOK, Thailand — Myanmar was a rising star in Southeast Asia before its military seized power three years ago in a takeover that has brought civil strife and a tightening vise of international sanctions, undoing years of progress and leaving the economy 10% smaller than it was in 2019.

Economists say the generals who toppled Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government on Feb. 1, 2021, increasingly rely on illicit revenues from gem mining and logging to fund their battles against a broad popular resistance movement.

Weak law enforcement, corruption and poverty resulting from a dearth of economic opportunity, meanwhile, are fueling a surge in drug production and trafficking, online scam rings and other criminal activities.

Export manufacturing and other mainstream business activities in Myanmar have suffered since the military takeover, wiping out jobs that millions relied on to get by. The economy is forecast to grow at a meager 1% pace this year and about half the population is estimated to be living in poverty. More than 2.6 million people have been displaced by civil war.

From the early 1960s, Myanmar muddled through decades of mismanagement and isolation under military administrations until the early 2010s, when reforms loosened the military’s grip on power, opening the economy to foreign investment.

But that era of fast growth and nascent industrialization was derailed by the military’s takeover, which sparked peaceful protests that turned into armed resistance against the army’s use of deadly force to suppress them.

Fighting with pro-democracy guerrillas and ethnic minority armed groups has escalated in recent months, raising pressure on the military, which has suffered some key defeats.

Recent visitors to Yangon, Myanmar’s biggest city, say conditions there appear calm. However, United Nations officials estimate that nearly 18 million of the country’s nearly 57 million people are in need of humanitarian aid.

Many lack secure access to food. Myanmar’s kyat has depreciated sharply against the U.S. dollar and other currencies, raising prices for many necessities, while restrictions on trade and movement and active fighting have disrupted farming.

“The junta’s inept policies are steering the Myanmar economy towards a trajectory reminiscent of North Korea, where there is a struggle to provide basic necessities for the population,” Miemie Winn Byrd, a professor at the Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies, wrote in a recent report.

The Myanmar military administration reported $602 million in foreign direct investment last year, mostly in the energy sector, with only $112 million invested in manufacturing. That compares with a peak of $4.8 billion in 2017 and $1.2 billion in 2022.

In addition to the risk of unrest, corruption and disruptive swings in policies such as an order for all foreign exchange to be converted into kyats, sanctions on key areas of the economy have also stifled investment.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative issued a fresh business advisory on Jan. 26 highlighting what it said were “sectors and activities of concern” to inform companies and people about risks of doing business in Myanmar.

It cited trade in rare earths, which are often used in high-tech products such as electric vehicles, timber, gold and other metals, aviation and financial services.

Such areas often operate as military or state-controlled monopolies and are linked with corruption and human rights and labor rights abuses that might expose companies to violations of U.S. sanctions or anti-money laundering laws, it said.

To a certain extent, black market trading and other illicit activities enable people to cope with increasing poverty and precarious living conditions.

But transnational criminal syndicates have been expanding into Myanmar’s border regions, where online scam rings, casinos and drug production and trafficking are generating revenues for both military and anti-regime groups.

“There’s no economic opportunity in the country because the economy’s collapsed,” Jeremy Douglas, the regional representative of the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, said in a recent briefing in Bangkok.

“This is a political problem for this region and the world, because this system is there, generating money in its own right and generating money for the syndicates,” he said.

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January 31, 2024
Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso withdraw from West Africa economic bloc ECOWAS, citing coup sanctions, officials say

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Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso withdraw from West Africa economic bloc ECOWAS, citing coup sanctions, officials say

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January 28, 2024
US condemns ban on Venezuelan opposition leader’s candidacy and puts sanctions relief under review

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CARACAS, Venezuela — The U.S. government and nearly 30 conservative world leaders on Saturday condemned the decision of Venezuela’s highest court to block the presidential candidacy of opposition leader María Corina Machado.

The Biden administration, however, remained noncommittal about reimposing economic sanctions on Venezuela, which it has threatened to do if the government of President Nicolás Maduro failed to ensure a level playing field for the country’s presidential election this year.

“The United States is currently reviewing our Venezuela sanctions policy, based on this development and the recent political targeting of democratic opposition candidates and civil society,” U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement.

Machado won a presidential primary held in October by the faction of the opposition backed by the U.S. She secured more than 90% of the vote despite the Venezuelan government announcing a 15-year ban on her running for office just days after she formally entered the race in June.

The former lawmaker and longtime government foe was able to participate in the primary because the election was organized by a commission independent of Venezuela’s electoral authorities. Machado insisted throughout the campaign that she never received official notification of the ban and said voters, not ruling-party loyalists, were the rightful decision-makers of her candidacy.

Venezuela’s Supreme Tribunal of Justice on Friday upheld the ban, which was based on alleged fraud and tax violations, and accuses Machado of seeking the economic sanctions the U.S. imposed on Venezuela.

The ruling came more than three months after Maduro and the U.S.-backed opposition reached a deal to work on basic conditions for a fair election. The two sides agreed to hold the election in the second half of 2024, invite international electoral observers, and create a process for aspiring presidential candidates to appeal their bans.

The deal led Washington to ease some economic sanctions on Venezuela’s oil, gas and mining sectors.

Miller said Friday’s decision from Venezuela’s Supreme Tribunal of Justice “runs contrary to the commitments made by Maduro and his representatives” under the agreement signed in October on the Caribbean island of Barbados. He said the appeal process “lacked basic elements, as Machado neither received a copy of the allegations against her nor was afforded the opportunity to respond to those allegations.”

Gerardo Blyde, the chief negotiator for the opposition group known as the Unitary Platform, said Saturday that the court’s ruling violates the Barbados accord. He asked for backing from the international community, specifically the presidents of France, Emmanuel Macron; of Brazil, Luis Inácio Lula da Silva, and of Colombia, Gustavo Petro — all of whom have supported the negotiation process.

Blyde also urged Maduro’s allies to reverse the court’s decision, arguing it constitutes a “violation of due process and the right to due defense” of Machado, who was never granted an opportunity to defend herself.

But Hector Rodríguez, a governor and member of Maduro’s negotiating delegation, told reporters that Venezuela’s government has followed the terms of the accord and plans to hold the presidential election this year. He added that the court’s decision is a thing of the past in the eyes of his delegation.

“What happened at the opposition’s request for an expedited (appeal) process based on the agreement is already an adjudicated matter in Venezuela,” Rodríguez said. “We are not going to have wet rain again. … They are not going to lock us in a permanent dynamic that does not allow us to move forward.”

While the opposition’s candidate remains in doubt, Maduro will be seeking six more years in office. His entire decade-long presidency has been marked by political, social and economic crisis. Under his watch, millions of Venezuelans have fallen into poverty and more than 7.4 million have migrated.

In a statement Saturday, the international nongovernmental organization Democratic Initiative of Spain and the Americas, said that Machado “continues to be the legitimate representative of the Venezuelan opposition and its presidential candidate before the international community.”

The statement was signed by roughly 30 world leaders of Spain and Latin America, including former Presidents Iván Duque of Colombia, Mauricio Macri of Argentina, and Vicente Fox and Felipe Calderón of Mexico.

The leaders wrote that the actions of Maduro’s government through Venezuela’s highest court, “whose direction has recently been entrusted to a member of the official party … proves his repeated contempt for the essential elements and fundamental components of democracy.”

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January 27, 2024
South Korea calls on divided UN council 'to break the silence' on North Korea's tests and threats

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UNITED NATIONS — South Korea called on the divided U.N. Security Council on Thursday “to break the silence” over North Korea’s escalating missile tests and threats.

“It’s a big question,” South Korea’s U.N. Ambassador Hwang Joonkook told reporters after an emergency closed meeting of the council on the North’s first ballistic missile test of 2024 on Sunday. South Korea is serving a two-year term on the council.

The Security Council imposed sanctions after North Korea’s first nuclear test explosion in 2006 and tightened them over the years in a total of 10 resolutions seeking — so far unsuccessfully — to cut funds and curb its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

The last sanctions resolution was adopted by the council in 2017. China and Russia vetoed a U.S.-sponsored resolution in May 2022 that would have imposed new sanctions over a spate of intercontinental ballistic missile launches. Since then, the two veto-wielding permanent council members have blocked any council action, including media statements.

North Korea’s escalating test-launches in violation of the existing U.N. sanctions — five ICBMs, more than 25 ballistic missiles and three satellite launches using ballistic missile technology in 2023 – coupled with new threats from the North’s leader Kim Jong Un have raised regional tensions to their highest point in years.

On Monday, Kim declared North Korea would abandon its commitment to a peaceful unification with South Korea and ordered a rewriting of its constitution to eliminate the idea of a shared statehood between the war-divided countries. He said South Koreans were “top-class stooges” of America who were obsessed with confrontation, and repeated a threat that the North would annihilate the South with its nukes if provoked.

Before Thursday’s council meeting, U.S. Deputy Ambassador Robert Wood told reporters Kim’s provocations “are of great concern.”

He said the 15 council members need to be reminded that North Korea is violating sanctions and its obligations to the council, “and we have to insist that they adhere to those obligations, and for all Security Council members to enforce those resolutions.”

By contrast, China’s U.N. Ambassador Zhang Jun, whose country is a close ally of North Korea, called on all parties involved in the Korean Peninsula to stay calm and refrain from actions that would further raise tensions.

In a message clearly aimed at the United States and South Korea, Zhang expressed hope that while attention is mainly on North Korea, “other countries are also responsible to avoid further escalation.”

France’s U.N. Ambassador Nicolas De Riviere told reporters that North Korea’s actions are “getting worse and worse,” with regular ballistic missile launches, continuing uranium enrichment, and advancement of its nuclear program.

“Everyone is focused on missile launches, but I think the biggest threat is their nuclear program which continues to grow again and again,” De Riviere said.

And he called it “a shame” that Russia is violating Security Council resolutions by “buying military stuff that they use in Ukraine” from North Korea. “It’s really bad,” he said.

South Korea’s Hwang said all 15 members of the Council are worried that North Korea’s rhetoric and actions are “getting more and more serious.”

But how to break the council’s silence and inaction?

“We will discuss and think about it, and how to move forward,” he said. “It’s a big question.”

As for Kim’s abandonment of peaceful reunification, Hwang called it “a big change” in their rhetoric, actions and policy. “The nuclear policy is highly, highly alarming,” he said.

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January 18, 2024
US pledges new sanctions over Houthi attacks will minimize harm to Yemen's hungry millions

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WASHINGTON — WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States on Wednesday put Yemen’s Houthis rebels back on its list of specially designated global terrorists, piling financial sanctions on top of American military strikes in the Biden administration’s latest attempt to stop the militants’ attacks on global shipping.

Officials said they would design the financial penalties to minimize harm to Yemen’s 32 million people, who are among the world’s poorest and hungriest after years of war between the Iran-backed Houthis and a Saudi-led coalition.

But aid officials expressed concern. The decision would only add “another level of uncertainty and threat for Yemenis still caught in one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises,” Oxfam America associate director Scott Paul said.

The sanctions that come with the formal designation are meant to sever violent extremist groups from their sources of financing.

President Donald Trump’s administration designated the Houthis as global terrorists and a foreign terrorist organization in one of his last acts in office. President Joe Biden reversed course early on, at the time citing the humanitarian threat that the sanctions posed to ordinary Yemenis.

Military strikes by the U.S. and Britain against Houthi targets in Yemen have failed to stop weeks of drone, rocket and missile strikes by Houthi forces on commercial shipping transiting the Red Sea route, which borders Yemen.

The Houthis are one in a network of Iran- and Hamas-allied militant groups around the Middle East that have escalated attacks on Israel, the U.S. and others since Israel’s military offensive in Gaza, in response to Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks in Israel.

The Houthis were originally a clan-based rebel movement. They seized Yemen’s capital in 2014 and withstood a subsequent yearslong invasion led by Saudi Arabia aimed at driving the Houthis from power. Two-thirds of Yemen’s people live in territory now controlled by the Houthis.

Critics say the additional broad U.S. sanctions may have little effect on the Houthis, a defiant and relatively isolated group with few known assets in the U.S. to be threatened. There is also concern that designating the Houthis as terrorists may complicate international attempts to broker a peace deal in the now-subsided war with Saudi Arabia.

War and chronic misgovernment have left 24 million Yemenis at risk of hunger and disease, and roughly 14 million are in acute need of humanitarian assistance, the United Nations says. Aid groups during the height of Yemen’s war issued repeated warnings that millions of Yemenis were on the brink of famine.

Aid organizations worry that just the fear of running afoul of U.S. regulations could be enough to scare away shippers, banks and others in the commercial supply chain that Yemenis depend upon for survival. Yemen imports 90% of its food.

U.S. officials said the sanctions would exempt commercial shipments of food, medicine and fuel, and humanitarian assistance into Yemeni ports. The U.S. will wait 30 days to put the sanctions into effect, officials said, giving shipping companies, banks, insurers and others time to prepare.

Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said in a statement that the U.S. would roll out “unprecedented” exemptions in the sanctions for staples including food to “help prevent adverse impacts on the Yemeni people,” adding that they “should not pay the price for the actions of the Houthis.”

The administration, for now, is not reimposing the more severe designation of foreign terrorist organization on the Houthis. That would have barred Americans, along with people and organizations subject to U.S. jurisdiction, from providing “material support” to the Houthis. Aid groups said that step could have the effect of criminalizing ordinary trade and assistance to Yemenis.

The U.S will reevaluate the designation if the Houthis comply, Sullivan said.

Jared Rowell, the Yemen country director for the International Rescue Committee, said last week that the attacks and counterattacks already were interrupting the delivery of goods and aid into Yemen, delaying shipments of vital commodities and raising prices for food and fuel.

Conservatives have pressed for the foreign terrorist designation to be reimposed ever since the Biden administration lifted it.

Republican Rep, Michel McCaul of Texas, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, cited the series of Houthi attacks as he condemned the White House’s decision not to reimpose that tougher designation, which carries more sweeping penalties.

When Biden was asked last week whether the Houthis were a terrorist group, he replied, “I think they are.”

Hisham Al-Omeisy, a Yemeni analyst living in the Washington, area, said the U.S. designation plays into the Houthis’ narrative to the world that they are standing up to a superpower to champion Muslims everywhere.

At home, the designation helps the Houthis’ message to Yemenis that the U.S. is the cause of their suffering, Al-Omeisy said.

In the past, he said, the Houthis were angered that “the U.S. was basically treating them as a bug on the windshield.”

Now, “they’re like, ‘You know what, they respect us,’” he said of the Houthis’ attitude. “‘Yeah, we can go toe to toe with the Americans, right?’”

It’s not clear if any U.S. partners are working on similar sanctions.

European Commission spokesman Peter Stano said the EU “is working intensively with partners and coordinating in the international efforts to stop these unacceptable violations of international law, which bring dangers to freedom and safety of navigation in the Red Sea.”

He told reporters Wednesday that the 27 member countries are discussing the possibility of setting up a naval mission to help “restore the stability and safety of naval traffic in the Red Sea.” He declined to comment on whether sanctions are being discussed.

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Associated Press writer Lorne Cook in Brussels contributed to this report.

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January 17, 2024
China sanctions 5 US defense companies in response to US sanctions and arms sales to Taiwan

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BEIJING — China announced sanctions Sunday on five American defense-related companies in response to U.S. arms sales to Taiwan and U.S sanctions on Chinese companies and individuals.

The sanctions will freeze any property the companies have in China and prohibit organizations and individuals in China from doing business with them, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement posted online.

The companies are BAE Systems Land and Armament, Alliant Techsystems Operation, AeroVironment, ViaSat and Data Link Solutions.

The Foreign Ministry said the U.S. moves harmed China’s sovereignty and security interests, undermined peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, and violated the rights and interests of Chinese companies and individuals.

“The Chinese government remains unwavering in our resolve to safeguard national sovereignty, security and territorial integrity and protect the lawful rights and interests of Chinese companies and citizens,” the ministry statement said.

The U.S. last month approved the sale of about $300 million in communications and other defense-related equipment to Taiwan. At the time, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin warned that China would take countermeasures against companies involved in arms sales to Taiwan.

Taiwan is a major flashpoint in U.S.-China relations that analysts worry could explode into military conflict between the two powers. China regards Taiwan, a self-governing island off its east coast, as a renegade province that must come under Beijing’s control at some point in the future. It views U.S. arms sales to Taiwan as interference in its domestic affairs.

The Chinese military regularly sends fighter planes and ships into and over the waters around Taiwan, in part to deter the island’s government from declaring formal independence. An invasion doesn’t appear imminent, but the constant military activity serves as a reminder that the threat is ever present.

The U.S. switched diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China in 1971, but it is bound by its own laws to ensure that Taiwan has the ability to defend itself. It and its allies sail warships through the Taiwan Strait, a 160-kilometer-wide (100-mile) waterway that separates the island from China.

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January 6, 2024
China sanctions 5 US defense companies in response to US sanctions and arms sales to Taiwan

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BEIJING — China announced sanctions Sunday on five American defense-related companies in response to U.S. arms sales to Taiwan and U.S sanctions on Chinese companies and individuals.

The sanctions will freeze any property the companies have in China and prohibit organizations and individuals in China from doing business with them, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement posted online.

The companies are BAE Systems Land and Armament, Alliant Techsystems Operation, AeroVironment, ViaSat and Data Link Solutions.

The Foreign Ministry said the U.S. moves harmed China’s sovereignty and security interests, undermined peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, and violated the rights and interests of Chinese companies and individuals.

“The Chinese government remains unwavering in our resolve to safeguard national sovereignty, security and territorial integrity and protect the lawful rights and interests of Chinese companies and citizens,” the ministry statement said.

The U.S. last month approved the sale of about $300 million in communications and other defense-related equipment to Taiwan. At the time, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin warned that China would take countermeasures against companies involved in arms sales to Taiwan.

Taiwan is a major flashpoint in U.S.-China relations that analysts worry could explode into military conflict between the two powers. China regards Taiwan, a self-governing island off its east coast, as a renegade province that must come under Beijing’s control at some point in the future. It views U.S. arms sales to Taiwan as interference in its domestic affairs.

The Chinese military regularly sends fighter planes and ships into and over the waters around Taiwan, in part to deter the island’s government from declaring formal independence. An invasion doesn’t appear imminent, but the constant military activity serves as a reminder that the threat is ever present.

The U.S. switched diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China in 1971, but it is bound by its own laws to ensure that Taiwan has the ability to defend itself. It and its allies sail warships through the Taiwan Strait, a 160-kilometer-wide (100-mile) waterway that separates the island from China.

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January 6, 2024
US sanctions money network tied to the Yemen Houthi rebels blamed for shipping vessel attacks

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WASHINGTON — The U.S. on Thursday imposed sanctions on a group of money exchange services from Yemen and Turkey alleged to help provide funding to Iranian-backed Houthi rebels who have been launching attacks on commercial shipping vessels in the southern Red Sea — including a drone and a missile that were shot down Thursday by the U.S. military.

Included in the sanctions are the head of a financial intermediary in Sana’a, Yemen, along with three exchange houses in Yemen and Turkey. U.S. Treasury alleges that the people and firms helped transfer millions of dollars to the Houthis at the direction of sanctioned Iranian financial facilitator Sa’id al-Jamal.

The sanctions block access to U.S. property and bank accounts and prevent the targeted people and companies from doing business with Americans.

Thursday’s action is the latest round of financial penalties meant to punish the Houthis.

Earlier this month, the U.S. announced sanctions against 13 people and firms alleged to be providing tens of millions of dollars from the sale and shipment of Iranian commodities to the Houthis in Yemen.

Brian E. Nelson, Treasury’s undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said Thursday’s action “underscores our resolve to restrict the illicit flow of funds to the Houthis, who continue to conduct dangerous attacks on international shipping and risk further destabilizing the region.”

Nelsons said the U.S. and its allies “will continue to target the key facilitation networks that enable the destabilizing activities of the Houthis and their backers in Iran.”

The Houthis have sporadically targeted ships in the region in the past, but the attacks have increased since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas, spiking after an Oct. 17 explosion at a hospital in Gaza killed and injured many. Houthi leaders have insisted Israel is their target.

The U.S. military’s Central Command reported another attempt to attack commercial vessels Thursday. It said the USS Mason, a Navy destroyer, shot down one drone and one ballistic missile that were fired by the Houthis around 6 p.m. local time.

“There was no damage to any of the 18 ships in the area or reported injuries,” CentCom said, adding that it was the 22nd attempted attack by Houthis on international shipping since Oct. 19.

In December, the White House also announced that it was encouraging its allies to join the Combined Maritime Forces, a 39-member partnership that exists to counter malign action by non-state actors in international waters, as it looks to push back against the Houthis.

The attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea by Yemen’s Houthi rebels have scared off some of the world’s top shipping companies and oil giants, effectively rerouting global trade away from a crucial artery for consumer goods and energy supplies that is expected to trigger delays and rising prices.

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December 28, 2023
Somalia president hails lifting of arms embargo as government vows to wipe out al-Shabab militants

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Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has welcomed the U.N. Security Council vote to lift an arms embargo imposed on the Horn of Africa nation more than 30 years ago

ByOMAR FARUK Associated Press

December 2, 2023, 2:51 AM

FILE – Somalia President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud speaks during a plenary session at the COP28 U.N. Climate Summit, Friday, Dec. 1, 2023, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud welcomed Saturday, Dec. 2, the U.N. Security Council vote to lift an arms embargo imposed on the Horn of Africa nation more than 30 years ago.(AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool, File)

The Associated Press

MOGADISHU, Somalia — Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud welcomed Saturday the U.N. Security Council vote to lift an arms embargo imposed on the Horn of Africa nation more than 30 years ago.

The 15-member council unanimously voted Friday night in favor of the British-drafted resolution to lift the weapons ban. However, France was the only member to abstain when voting on another resolution to reimpose an arms embargo on al Qaeda-linked al-Shabaab militants, saying the resolution lacked references to the territorial disputes between Djibouti and Eritrea.

In a statement sent to the Associated Press, Information Minister Daud Aweys said the embargo lift will help modernize the country’s armed forces. “Somalia has been grappling with significant security challenges, including the presence of extremist groups such as al-Shabab. The Somali government needs access to modern arms and equipment to effectively combat these threats and maintain security within its borders,” the statement read.

The Somali president, in a televised statement soon after the adoption of the resolution, said the embargo lift “means that we are now free to purchase any weapons needed,” adding that “friendly nations and allies” can now “provide us with the necessary weapons without any limitations or restrictions.”

Somalia was placed under the embargo in 1992 to stop the sale of weapons to warlords who toppled former dictator Mohamed Siad Barre. The ouster led to decades of civil war and instability in the country as the warlords fought against each other.

Last month, Mohamud pledged to wipe out the Islamist group, al-Shabaab, by Dec. 2024. The militant group has lost swaths of territory since the government backed by local militias, African Union troops and Western powers, launched an extensive offensive against it in May.

Somalia has been plagued by years of conflict and has for decades heavily depended on the support of African Union forces, as well as Western powers such as the United States and Turkey, to maintain security and counter the threat posed by Islamic militant groups operating within the country.

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December 2, 2023
Niger’s junta asks West Africa’s court to compel neighbors to lift coup sanctions, citing hardship

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ABUJA, Nigeria — Niger’s junta on Tuesday asked West Africa’s regional court to order the lifting of sanctions imposed on the country by its neighbors following a July coup in which the democratically elected president was deposed.

“There is no sector of the Nigerien society that has not been affected by these sanctions” which have caused untold economic hardship in one of the world’s poorest countries, Younkaila Yaye, one of the junta’s lawyers, argued at the hearing in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital.

After elite soldiers toppled Niger’s President Mohamed Bazoum, the country faced economic sanctions from West Africa’s regional bloc, ECOWAS, as well as countries including the United States that had provided aid for health, security and infrastructure needs.

Neighbors shut their borders with Niger and more than 70% of its electricity, supplied by Nigeria, was cut off after financial transactions with West African countries were suspended. Niger’s assets in external banks were frozen and hundreds of millions of dollars in aid were withheld.

The sanctions were the most stringent yet imposed by the regional bloc in an effort to stem the tide of coups in Africa’s volatile Sahel region. But they have had little or no impact on the ambition of the junta which has consolidated its hold on power while millions in Niger face growing hardship.

At the hearing, the junta’s lawyers described the ways the sanctions are hurting Niger: Children are unable to return to school because of limited supplies. Drug stores are running out of supplies. Businesses are shutting down because of rising costs,

Yaye accused ECOWAS of punishing Nigeriens over the coup in ways harsher than it has handled coups in other countries, “especially regarding financial transactions.”

The junta asked the court to relax the sanctions pending the final judgement. But ECOWAS protested against their request.

Francois Kanga-Penond, the ECOWAS lawyer, argued that the junta is not recognized under the bloc’s protocol and does not have the power to institute such a case in court.

The court adjourned until Dec. 7.

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November 21, 2023
Florida lawmakers begin special session to express support for Israel, further sanction Iran

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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The Florida Legislature returned to the Capitol on Monday for a special session that will allow lawmakers to express their support for Israel, while giving Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis some talking points as he campaigns for president.

Lawmakers are expected to consider new sanctions against Iran, which has supported Hamas, as well as vote on resolutions expressing support for Israel’s right to defend itself.

“I urge you all to stand with me and view the world from my eyes,” David Schachter, a 94-year-old Holocaust survivor from Miami, told House members as the session began. “As someone who watched marches and protests in Europe that led to gas chambers and mass graves, I am here to tell you that our world needs a rude awakening.

Following Schacter’s remarks, Republican House Speaker Paul Renner said, “Know that in this House we will always stand with Israel and the Jewish people throughout the globe, today, tomorrow and forever.”

After Hamas militants attacked Israeli citizens last month, a large, bipartisan group of Florida lawmakers met in the Capitol to express their horror and to stand with Israelis. Now, they’ll be taking official action to send a similar message, both about the current war and against antisemitism at home.

More than 1,400 people in Israel have been killed, most of them in the Oct. 7 Hamas attack that started the fighting. The Palestinian death toll has reached 9,700, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza.

A resolution being considered this week says lawmakers “reject and condemn persistent threats against Jewish people, institutions, and communities in the State of Florida, the United States, and abroad, including those from individuals and organizations committed to the extermination of the Jewish people.”

Lawmakers will also consider new sanctions against companies that do business with Iran, and a $35 million grant program to help secure Jewish schools, synagogues and other institutions.

Florida already has sanctions against companies that directly do business with Iran and six other “countries of concern,” including Cuba, China and Russia. The U.S. federal government has imposed sanctions against Iran for decades.

Lawmakers were already scheduled to be at the Capitol for committee meetings and Republican leaders decided to use the time for the special session. The Legislature will also take up issues like hurricane relief, property insurance and providing more money for developmentally disabled students.

Since the attacks, DeSantis has touted his support for Israel while on the campaign trail and used his official office to back up his words. He has sent planes to Israel to help Floridians return home and to provide supplies for the country.

Democrats said the session was called to try to boost DeSantis’ campaign.

“We should be focused on helping Floridians, not giving Ron DeSantis a talking point for his presidential campaign. Our community is worried about property insurance, schools, and health care. I don’t know what GOP primary voters in Iowa are concerned about, but maybe DeSantis can ask while he’s up there,” House Democratic Leader Fentrice Driskell said in a news release.

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November 7, 2023
UN votes overwhelmingly to condemn US economic embargo on Cuba for 31st straight year

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The U.N. General Assembly has voted overwhelmingly to condemn the American economic embargo of Cuba for a 31st straightyear

ByThe Associated Press

November 2, 2023, 12:43 PM

UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. General Assembly voted overwhelmingly Thursday to condemn the American economic embargo of Cuba for a 31st straight year.

The vote on the resolution in the 193-member General Assembly tied the record for support for the Caribbean island nation: The vote was 187 in favor, with the United States and Israel opposed, and Ukraine abstaining.

The “yes” vote was up from 185 last year and 184 in 2021, and tied the 2019 vote of 187.

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez urged the assembly before the vote to support “reason and justice,” the U.N. Charter and international law, and declared: “Let Cuba live without the blockade!”

He said the U.S. embargo “constitutes a crime of genocide” and “an act of economic warfare during times of peace” aimed at weakening Cuba’s economic life, leaving its people hungry and desperate, and overthrowing the government.

General Assembly resolutions are not legally binding and are unenforceable, but they reflect world opinion and the vote has given Cuba an annual stage to demonstrate the isolation of the U.S. in its decades-old efforts to isolate the Caribbean island nation.

The embargo was imposed in 1960 following the revolution led by Fidel Castro and the nationalization of properties belonging to U.S. citizens and corporations. Two years later it was strengthened.

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November 2, 2023
Opponents of military rule in Myanmar applaud new sanctions targeting gas revenues

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BANGKOK — A U.N.-appointed human rights expert and opponents of Myanmar’s military government have welcomed the latest sanctions imposed by the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada on companies providing financial resources to the army-installed regime and high-ranking officials. The move is linked to rising violence and human rights abuses in the Southeast Asian nation.

The U.S. Treasury Department said Tuesday it was imposing sanctions on Myanmar’s state-owned Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise, a joint venture partner in all offshore gas projects and a vital source of hard cash for the military government. The sanctions block access to money and resources under U.S. control, and prohibit U.S. citizens from providing financial services to — or for the benefit of — MOGE starting from Dec. 15.

Five officials are on the sanctions list: the ministers of industry and investment and foreign economic relations; the director generals of the prosecution and prisons departments; and the chief of general staff for the combined military forces. Three organizations were also designated for sanctions, according to the Treasury Department.

The U.K. also sanctioned five people and one entity that it said are involved either in providing financial services to the regime or the supply of restricted goods, including aircraft parts.

Canada also imposed sanctions against 39 individuals and 22 entities in coordination with the U.K. and the U.S.

Tom Andrews, a special rapporteur working with the U.N. human rights office, said in a statement that the fresh sanctions were important steps forward and that the ban on financial services that benefit MOGE would hit the junta’s largest source of revenue.

“These actions signal to the people of Myanmar that they have not been forgotten, but there is much more that the international community can and must do.” said Andrews, urging U.N. member states to take stronger, coordinated action “to support the heroic efforts of the people of Myanmar to defend their nation and save their children’s future.”

Justice for Myanmar, an underground group of researchers and activists from Myanmar, also said the U.S. move against MOGE was a welcome step “to disrupt the junta’s single biggest source of foreign revenue.” The group operates covertly because the military government does not tolerate critics of its rule.

“The U.S. should continue to target the junta’s access to funds, including through full sanctions on MOGE in coordination with its allies,” the group said in a statement.

The sanctions are the latest the Western governments have imposed on Myanmar’s military regime, after the army seized power from the elected civilian government of Aung San Suu Kyi on Feb. 1, 2021.

Widespread nonviolent protests following the military takeover were suppressed by deadly force and triggered armed resistance in much of the country that some experts characterize as a civil war.

“Today’s action, taken in coordination with Canada and the United Kingdom … denies the regime access to arms and supplies necessary to commit its violent acts,” Brian Nelson, the Treasury Department’s undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in a statement.

“Collectively, we remain committed to degrading the regime’s evasion tactics and continuing to hold the regime accountable for its violence,” he said.

The Myanmar public and human rights groups had called for sanctions targeting gas revenues shortly after the army takeover. About 50% of Myanmar’s foreign income derives from natural gas revenues. Several offshore gas fields operate in Myanmar’s maritime territory, run by companies from Thailand, Japan, Malaysia, India and South Korea in partnership with MOGE. China is an investor in the pipeline that delivers the gas to the country.

The European Union imposed sanctions against MOGE in February last year.

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October 31, 2023
Many in Niger are suffering under coup-related sanctions. Junta backers call it a worthy sacrifice

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NIAMEY, Niger — Hamsa Diakite can’t remember the last time her family of eight had a good meal.

She once sustained them by selling fried bread until a coup in Niger three months ago resulted in sanctions against the West African nation, squeezing incomes in one of the world’s poorest countries and leaving millions like Hamsa struggling in the absence of aid.

“Not only is food very expensive, but school supplies have also doubled in price. I also have to clothe my children and, above all, deal with their illnesses,” the 65-year-old said.

After elite soldiers toppled Niger’s democratically elected President Mohamed Bazoum on July 26, the country faced economic sanctions from West Africa’s regional bloc, ECOWAS, as well as Western and European countries including the United States that had provided aid for health, security and infrastructure needs.

Neighbors shut their borders with Niger and more than 70% of its electricity, supplied by Nigeria, was cut off after financial transactions with West African countries were suspended. Niger’s assets in external banks were frozen and hundreds of millions of dollars in aid were withheld.

The sanctions are the most stringent yet imposed by the regional bloc in an effort to stem the tide of coups in Africa’s volatile Sahel region, but they have had little or no impact on the junta’s ambition.

Instead, they have hit hard Niger’s more than 25 million people.

“We are quickly running out of funding, medicines. People are running out of food,” Louise Aubin, the United Nations resident coordinator in Niger, told The Associated Press. The junta has since told her to leave Niger over allegations the global body is blocking the country’s participation in its activities. The U.N. hasn’t commented on the allegations.

Aubin said there had been “positive responses” from Niger’s neighbors to the idea of reopening borders for a humanitarian corridor, but didn’t give details.

The world’s third least developed nation, according to U.N. estimates, Niger in 2021 received $1.77 billion in assistance, more than half for humanitarian aid as well as social infrastructure and services. All of it is now in jeopardy.

Even the country’s 2023 budget, which was meant to be largely funded through the now-withheld external support from donors and loans, has been slashed by 40%.

Rather than deter the soldiers who deposed Bazoum and keep him under house arrest, the sanctions have emboldened the junta. It has set up a transitional government that could remain in power for up to three years.

That appears to have the support of many Nigeriens who felt the democratic government performed below their expectations, according to Seidik Abba, a Nigerien researcher and president of the International Center for Reflection for Studies on the Sahel think tank.

Even as they feel the pinch of sanctions, many people on the streets of Niamey, the capital, say they support the coup. They dismiss concerns from the West, which saw Niger as its last remaining strategic partner in its counterterrorism fight in the Sahel.

“The military sees that the people are supporting them, so they are using that support as a tool of legitimacy to hold on to power,” Abba said. For some junta supporters, the hardship brought by the sanctions is a worthy sacrifice, he added.

“The love of homeland has made us forget the hard times that the entire country is going through,” said Abdou Ali, one supporter in the capital. “No one cares about this rise in the price of goods.”

Aid workers and other observers working with the local population might disagree.

“We are trying to respond to a catastrophic situation for the country,” said Dr. Soumana Sounna Sofiane, secretary-general of the pharmacists’ union in Niger.

Many drugstores across Niger are running out of essential supplies at a time when the country faces public health emergencies including cholera. Desperate for a solution, pharmacies have started to give patients alternative medications to the ones they require.

Food is also running short. Rising inflation and high food prices are “significantly impacting communities’ capacity to make ends meet,” the U.N. World Food Program’s country office said. The agency said 3.3 million people in Niger were facing acute food insecurity even before the coup.

Niger is West Africa’s second largest country in landmass but it is landlocked, leaving it heavily reliant on trade with neighbors that now has paused. Food and drug supplies were among the top imported products last year.

Now, at the border with Benin, trucks loaded with goods and relief items are lined up for several kilometers (miles) waiting to enter Niger, though some are in transit to other countries.

More than 9,000 metric tons (9,920 tons) of WFP cargo, including specialized foods for the treatment and prevention of malnutrition, destined for Niger and neighboring Burkina Faso remain blocked between Benin and Togo, the U.N. food agency said.

The U.N.’s resident coordinator fears that the goal of reaching at least 80% of 4.4 million targeted people with humanitarian aid in Niger this year could be in jeopardy.

For many families, the sanctions hit them at the core.

Nearly one in five Nigeriens are thought to be livestock breeders, according to the World Bank. They were able to export live animals worth $10 million to Nigeria in 2021 but are now desperate to find an alternative market.

Across Niger, prices of basic items are surging. A 25-kilogram (55-pound) bag of rice, the main staple food, has jumped more than 50% in price since the sanctions were imposed.

“Our stocks are running out overnight, as nothing crosses borders to supply us. When stocks run out, we will simply close our stores,” said Ambouta Idrissa, manager of a large cereal sales depot in Niamey.

Other businesses shut down after incurring extra costs to run generators after Nigeria cut the power supply.

For Nigeriens like Diakite, who struggles to feed her family, the main concern is keeping her children from going to bed on an empty stomach. She said her hopes fade with every passing day.

“For how long can we hold on?” she asked.

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Asadu reported from Abuja, Nigeria.

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October 26, 2023
Long lines at gas pump unlikely, but Middle East crisis could disrupt oil supplies

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WASHINGTON — Fifty years after the 1973 Arab oil embargo, the current crisis in the Middle East has the potential to disrupt global oil supplies and push prices higher. But don’t expect a repeat of the catastrophic price hikes and long lines at the gasoline pump, experts say.

The Israel-Hamas war is “definitely not good news” for oil markets already stretched by cutbacks in oil production from Saudi Arabia and Russia and expected stronger demand from China, the head of the International Energy Agency said.

Markets will remain volatile, and the conflict could push oil prices higher, “which is definitely bad news for inflation,” Fatih Birol, executive director of the Paris-based IEA, told The Associated Press. Developing countries that import oil and other fuels would be the most affected by higher prices, he said.

International benchmark Brent crude traded above $91 a barrel on Thursday, up from $85 per barrel on Oct. 6, the day before Hamas attacked Israel, killing hundreds of civilians. Israel immediately launched airstrikes on Gaza, destroying entire neighborhoods and killing hundreds of Palestinian civilians in the days that have followed.

Fluctuations since the attack pushed oil prices as high as $96.

The price of oil depends on how much of it is getting used and how much is available. The latter is under threat because of the Hamas-Israel war, even though the Gaza Strip is not home to major crude production.

One worry is that the fighting could lead to complications with Iran, home of some of the world’s largest oil reserves. Its crude production has been constrained by international sanctions, but oil is still flowing to China and other countries.

“In order to get a sustained move (in prices), we really would need to see a supply disruption,” said Andrew Lipow, president at Lipow Oil Associates, a Houston-based consultant.

Any damage to Iranian oil infrastructure from a military strike by Israel could send prices jumping globally. Even without that, a shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz that lies south of Iran could also shake the oil market because so much of the world’s supplies goes through the waterway.

Until something like that happens, “the oil market is going to be like everyone else, monitoring the events in the Middle East,” Lipow said.

One reason 1970s-style gas lines are unlikely: U.S. oil production is at an all-time high. The U.S. Energy Information Administration, an arm of the Energy Department, reported that American oil production in the first week of October hit 13.2 million barrels per day, passing the previous record set in 2020 by 100,000 barrels. Weekly domestic oil production has doubled from the first week in October 2012 to now.

“The energy crisis of 1973 taught us many things, but in my mind, the most critical is that American energy strength is a tremendous source of security, prosperity and freedom around the world,” said Mike Sommers, president and CEO of the American Petroleum Institute, the U.S. oil industry’s top lobbying group.

In a speech Wednesday marking the 50th anniversary of the 1973 oil embargo, Sommers said current U.S. production contrasts sharply with “America’s weakened position during the Arab oil embargo.” He urged U.S. policymakers to heed what he called the lessons of 1973.

“We cannot squander our strategic advantage and retreat on energy leadership,” said Sommers, who has repeatedly criticized President Joe Biden’s policies restricting restricting new oil leases as part of Biden’s efforts to slow global climate change.

“With an unstable world, war in Europe, war in the Middle East, and energy demand outstripping supply, energy security is on the line,” Sommers said in a speech at the Hudson Institute, a Washington think tank.

“American oil and gas are needed now more than ever,” Sommers said. “Let’s take to heart the lessons we learned from 1973 and avoid sowing the seeds of the next energy crisis.”

For now, the crisis isn’t a repeat of 1973. Arab countries aren’t attacking Israel in unison, and OPEC+ nations have not moved to restrict supplies or boost prices beyond a few extra dollars.

There are several wild cards in the energy market. One is the supply of Iranian oil. Eager to avoid a spike in gasoline prices and inflation, the U.S. has quietly tolerated some exports of Iranian oil to destinations such as China instead of going all in on sanctions aimed at Iran’s nuclear program.

If Iran, which has warned Israel not to undertake a ground offensive, escalates the Gaza conflict — including a possible attack by Hezbollah militants in Lebanon supported by Iran — that might change the U.S. stance. “If the U.S. were then also to enforce the oil sanctions against Iran more strictly again, the oil market would tighten noticeably,” say commodities analysts at Commerzbank.

Lawmakers from both parties have urged Biden to block Iranian oil sales, seeking to dry up one of the regime’s key sources of funding.

Another wild card is how Saudi Arabia would respond if Iranian oil is restricted. Oil analysts say that while the Saudis may welcome recent oil price hikes, they don’t want a massive price spike that would fuel inflation, higher central bank interest rates and possible recession in oil-consuming countries that ultimately would limit or even kill off demand for oil.

A third unknown is whether more oil will reach the market from Venezuela. The U.S. agreed Wednesday to temporarily suspend some sanctions on the country’s oil, gas and gold sectors after Venezuela’s government and a faction of its opposition formally agreed to work together on election reforms.

Venezuelan production could increase in 2024. In the next six months, however, production could ramp up by some 200,000 barrels a day, a relative drop in the ocean, according to Sofia Guidi Di Sante, senior oil market analyst at Rystad Energy.

Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso, the top Republican on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, slammed the U.S. action as a “gimmick” that appeases a brutal regime in Venezuela.

“Joe Biden’s energy policies put America last,” Barrasso said, citing the Democratic president’s decisions to kill the controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline and sell off significant portions of the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve, taking it to its lowest level since the 1980s. The Energy Department said Thursday it will seek offers to start refilling the oil reserve in December, with monthly solicitations expected through May 2024.

“He eased sanctions on Iran, which funds terrorism across the Middle East. Now with Israel under attack, Biden is desperate for anything to mask the consequences of his reckless policies,” Barrasso said. “America should never beg for oil from socialist dictators or terrorists.”

The Treasury Department says it has targeted nearly 1,000 individuals and entities connected to terrorism and terrorist financing by the Iranian regime and its proxies, including Hamas, Hezbollah and other groups in the region.

“We will continue to take action as appropriate to counter Iran’s destabilizing activity in the region and around the world,” Treasury said in a statement.

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McHugh reported from Frankfurt, Germany. Choe reported from New York.

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October 19, 2023
Mexico’s president slams US aid for Ukraine and sanctions on Venezuela and Cuba

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MEXICO CITY — Mexico’s president on Friday slammed U.S. aid for Ukraine and economic sanctions on Venezuela, Cuba and other nations as the first of two high-level U.S.-Mexico meetings got underway in Washington.

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador issued a broad criticism of U.S. foreign policy, saying U.S. economic sanctions were forcing people to emigrate from Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua.

The harsh comments came as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and Trade Representative Katherine Tai met their Mexican counterparts at the State Department. None of the officials, including Mexican Foreign Secretary Alicia Bárcena and Secretary of Economy Raquel Buenrostro, addressed or were asked about López Obrador’s comments.

Instead they concentrated on expanded trade and economic ties, hailing new cooperation on those fronts, and stressed their commitment to fight the surge of synthetic opioids like fentanyl into the U.S. from Mexico.

“By creating the right incentives and business environments and harnessing our two nations’ respective strengths, we have a tremendous opportunity to make North America the most competitive, the most productive, the most dynamic region in the world,” Blinken said.

“We’re continuing to strengthen, to expand, and diversify supply chains in emerging industries like electric vehicles and semiconductors,” he said, noting that the U.S. and Mexico are launching a new initiative to produce semiconductors.

Although Friday’s talks focused on commerce issues, Blinken will lead a U.S. delegation to Mexico next week with Attorney General Merrick Garland and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas that will focus on border security and migration.

The State Department said in a statement that Blinken would be meeting López Obrador during the Oct. 4-5 trip.

Experts say economic mismanagement and political repression are largely to blame for the tide of migrants leaving Venezuela and Cuba.

López Obrador said the United States should spend some of the money sent to Ukraine on economic development in Latin America.

“They (the U.S.) don’t do anything,” he said. “It’s more, a lot more, what they authorize for the war in Ukraine than what they give to help with poverty in Latin America and the Caribbean.”

He called for a U.S. program “to remove blockades and stop harassing independent and free countries, an integrated plan for cooperation so the Venezuelans, Cubans, Nicaraguans and Ecuadorans, Guatemalans and Hondurans wouldn’t be forced to emigrate.”

There has been a surge in Venezuelan migrants moving through Mexico in recent weeks in a bid to reach the U.S. border. Many of the migrants say deteriorating economic and political conditions in their home country led them to make the journey.

Mexico has condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine but has adopted a policy of neutrality and has refused to participate in sanctions. Mexico also continues to buy 2020-vintage COVID-19 vaccines from Russia and Cuba.

The Mexican president laughed off an effort by U.S. Republican lawmakers to cut the tiny amount of foreign aid the U.S. gives to Mexico. López Obrador estimated it involved $40 or $50 million, calling it “ridiculous.”

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September 29, 2023
Biden announces more Iran sanctions on anniversary of Mahsa Amini death

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WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden announced new U.S. sanctions Friday on “some of Iran’s most egregious human rights abusers” as he marked the anniversary of the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died while being held by the country’s morality police.

Amini had been detained for allegedly wearing her hijab too loosely in violation of laws that require women in public to wear the Islamic headscarf. She died three days later in police custody.

Her death set off protests in dozens of cities across the country of 80 million people, with young women marching in the streets and publicly exposing and cutting off their hair. The government responded with a fierce crackdown, blaming the protests on foreign interference.

Amini remains a potent symbol in protests that have posed one of the most serious challenges to the Islamic Republic since the 2009 Green Movement protests drew millions to the streets.

Biden said Friday that the U.S. reaffirms its “commitment to the courageous people of Iran who are carrying on her mission.”

“They are inspiring the world with their resilience and resolve. And together with our allies and partners, we stand with them,” he said.

Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control on Friday listed 29 people and organizations in connection with Amini’s death, including members of the government’s security forces and the head of Iran’s Prisons Organization. It also sanctioned the semiofficial Fars and Tasnim news agencies, believed to be close to the country’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, and state television’s English-language arm Press TV.

The Iranian semi-official ISNA news agency reported that the country’s foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian dismissed the sanctions as a joke. “The sanctions that the Americans are imposing against Iran these days are more like a joke; Sometimes we see that the names of some people who died a few years ago are mentioned in these lists,” Amirabdollahian said.

Tasnim, reporting on the sanctions, called them “repetitive actions (that) are not considered a new issue for the bodies that protect the country’s security.”

In addition, the State Department imposed visa restrictions on 13 Iranian officials and others for their involvement in killing or detaining peaceful protesters or censoring them via a country-wide internet shutdown in Iran.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the U.S. would designate 25 Iranian people, three state-backed media outlets, and an internet research firm in connection with the Iranian regime’s suppression of nationwide protests. Taken in coordination with the U.K., Canada, Australia, and other nations, this is the United States’ 13th round of sanctions designations in response to Iran’s crackdown on protests.

“We will continue to take appropriate action, alongside our international partners, to hold accountable those who suppress Iranians’ exercise of human rights,” Blinken said.

In Brussels, the European Union announced that it had slapped asset freezes and travel bans on four officials, including a senior member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, to mark the anniversary.

The 27-nation bloc also imposed asset freezes on four prisons and the Tasnim news agency. EU citizens are banned from providing funds or economic resources to the prisons and people listed.

“The European Union expresses its support for the fundamental aspiration of the people of Iran for a future where their universal human rights and fundamental freedoms are respected, protected, and fulfilled,” a statement said.

Iranian authorities said Amini had a heart attack. Her family has disputed that.

The U.S. has already sanctioned over 70 Iranian people and entities “responsible for supporting the regime’s oppression of its people,” Biden said.

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Associated Press writers Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran, Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Lorne Cooke in Brussels, Belgium, contributed to this report.

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September 15, 2023
New US sanctions target workarounds that let Russia get Western tech for war

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The United States said Thursday that it was sanctioning more than 150 businesses and people from Russia to Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Georgia to try to crack down on evasion and deny the Kremlin access to technology, money and financial channels that fuel President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine.

The sanctions package is one of the biggest by the State and Treasury departments and is the latest to target people and companies in countries, notably NATO member Turkey, that sell Western technology to Russia that could be used to bolster its war effort.

The package also aims to hobble the development of Russia’s energy sector and future sources of cash, including Arctic natural gas projects, as well as mining and factories producing and repairing Russian weapons.

“The purpose of the action is to restrict Russia’s defense production capacity and to reduce the liquidity it has to pay for its war,” James O’Brien, head of the State Department’s Office of Sanctions Coordination, told The Associated Press.

The U.S. is sanctioning a newly established UAE company, which provides engineering and technology to Russia’s Arctic liquefied natural gas project, as well as multiple Russian companies involved in its development.

Putin wants the Arctic LNG 2 project to produce more liquefied natural gas and make Russia a bigger player in the energy market. In July, Putin visited the LNG site in Russia’s far north and said it would have a positive impact on “the entire economy.”

The U.S. package includes sanctions on several Turkish and Russian companies that the State Department says help Moscow source U.S. and European electronic components — such as computer chips and processors — that can be used in civilian and military equipment.

The department also is targeting Turkish companies that have provided ship repair services to a company affiliated with Russia’s Ministry of Defense.

Before the war, O’Brien said, Russia imported up to 90% of its electronics from countries that are part of the Group of 7 wealthy democracies, but sanctions have dropped that figure closer to 30%.

Sanctions, he said, “are effective” and “put a ceiling on Russia’s wartime production capacity.”

“Russia is trying to run a full production wartime economy, and it is extremely difficult to do that with secretive episodic purchases of small batches of equipment from different places around the world,” O’Brien said.

However, analysts say Russia still has significant financial reserves available to pursue its war and it’s possible for Russia to import the technology it seeks in tiny batches to maintain defense production.

“Russia could probably fill a large suitcase with enough electronic components to last for cruise missile production for a year,” said Richard Connolly, a specialist on Russia’s defense sector and economy at the risk analysis firm Oxford Analytica.

Russia, he said, also gets a lot of electronic components from Belarus, “so even if we whack all the moles, Belarus will still provide the equipment for as long as Lukashenko is in power.”

Both Turkey and the UAE have condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine but have not joined Western sanctions and sought to maintain ties with Russia.

Russian Industry and Trade Minister Denis Manturov said this year that trade between Russia and the UAE grew by 68% to $9 billion in 2022, according to Russian state news agency Tass.

Despite countries still doing business with Russia, the State Department believes sanctions are working, O’Brien said, noting that “the way to measure success is on the battlefield.”

“Ukraine can shoot down most of what the Russians are firing, and that tells us that there’s a gap,” he said. “The battlefield debris shows us Russia is using less capable electronics or sometimes no electronics at all.”

Nonetheless, Russia has been pummeling Ukraine with frequent missile attacks, including two over the past week that killed at least 23 people in Ukraine.

This is partly because Russia is “still getting hold of these electronic components and they are largely functioning as they did before,” said Connolly, the Russia analyst.

The latest sanctions package targets multiple Russian companies that repair, develop and manufacture weapons, including the Kalibr cruise missile. But to really turn the screws on Russia, analysts say Western companies need to think twice before selling crucial technology to countries known to have a healthy resale market with Russia.

“We need to work much harder with companies in our own countries to ensure that they are not feeding the re-export market,” said Tom Keatinge, director of the Centre for Financial Crime and Security Studies at the Royal United Services Institute in London.

“Many of them may be celebrating a rise in sales to the UAE or Turkey and not realizing, or not choosing to realize, that the rise is being driven by re-export business as opposed to genuine business happening in the UAE and Turkey,” he said.

The United Arab Emirates has insisted it follows international laws when it comes to money laundering and sanctions. However, a global body focused on fighting money laundering has placed the UAE on its “gray list” over concerns that the global trade hub isn’t doing enough to stop criminals and militants from hiding wealth there.

Turkey, meanwhile, has tried to balance its close ties with both Russia and Ukraine, positioning itself as a mediator.

Turkey depends heavily on Russian energy and tourism. Last year, however, Turkey’s state banks suspended transactions through Russia’s payment system, Mir, over U.S. threats of sanctions.

Including the latest sanctions, the State Department says the U.S. has targeted almost 3,000 businesses and people since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

“The United States and its allies and partners are united in supporting Ukraine in the face of Russia’s unprovoked, unjustified and illegal war. We will stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.

The State Department also sanctioned a Russian citizen for being associated with the Wagner mercenary group and for facilitating shipping of weapons from North Korea to Russia.

Also targeted were a Russian oligarch who the State Department says has personal ties to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and organized crime, as well as a Russian Intelligence Services officer and a Georgian-Russian oligarch. The State Department has said Russia’s Federal Security Service worked with the oligarch to influence Georgian society and politics for Russia’s benefit.

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Associated Press writers Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey, and Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed.

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This story has been corrected to show that Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s first name was misspelled.

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September 14, 2023
Taliban hail China’s new ambassador with fanfare, say it’s a sign for others to establish relations

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KABUL, Afghanistan — The Taliban on Wednesday hailed China‘s new ambassador to Afghanistan with fanfare, saying his arrival is a sign for other nations to come forward and establish relations with them.

The Taliban seized power in August 2021 as U.S. and NATO forces withdrew after two decades of war. Their leaders are under sanctions and no country recognizes them as Afghanistan’s legitimate rulers. The country’s seat at the United Nations is still held by the former Western-backed government that was led by Ashraf Ghani.

Only a handful of nations have working diplomatic missions in Afghanistan, including China, the world’s second-largest economy. The two sides have been open about their desire for closer ties, especially commercial ones.

Ambassador Zhao Sheng’s car swept through the tree-lined driveway of the Presidential Palace escorted by a police convoy. He was greeted by uniformed troops and met top-ranking Taliban officials, including Mohammad Hassan Akhund, who heads the administration, and Foreign Affairs Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi.

It is the first time since the Taliban takeover that an ambassador to Kabul has been afforded such lavish protocol.

Muttaqi said the two countries had special ties and that Zhao’s nomination was a “significant step with a significant message.” He did not elaborate further.

The Taliban’s chief spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, told The Associated Press that it is tradition for new ambassadors to present their credentials to the head of the country.

“It also signals to other countries to come forward and interact with the Islamic Emirate,” said Mujahid. “We should establish good relations as a result of good interactions and, with good relations, we can solve all the problems that are in front of us or coming in the future.”

He did not answer questions on what Zhao’s presence meant for the Taliban’s demand for official recognition.

The international community, wary of the Taliban’s rule when they were last in power more than 20 years ago, has withheld official recognition and Afghanistan’s assets abroad have been frozen.

A statement from China’s embassy in Afghanistan issued Wednesday urged the international community to maintain its dialogue and encourage the country to put in place an inclusive political framework, adopt moderate policies, combat terrorism and develop friendly external relations.

It said certain countries need to “draw lessons” from what happened in Afghanistan, abandon double standards on combating terrorism, return the country’s overseas assets, and lift sanctions.

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September 13, 2023
Poland calls on the EU to extend the embargo on Ukraine grain to prevent glut and protect farmers

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WARSAW, Poland — Poland’s government on Tuesday called on the European Union to extend the embargo on imports of Ukrainian grain beyond an end-of-week deadline to protect Polish farmers.

Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said he has requested that the European Commission, the EU’s executive, extend the ban on the entry of Ukraine corn, wheat, sunflower and rapeseed or else “we will do it ourselves because we cannot allow for a deregulation of the market.”

Speaking to farmers in Kosow Lacki, in Poland’s farming east region, Morawiecki said that the Oct. 15 parliamentary elections will be key for the future of Poland’s agriculture. The ruling conservative Law and Justice party is seeking to attract farmer voters in its campaign.

Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria and Romania — acting on a decision by the European Union — imposed an embargo on the four Ukrainian grains from April until Sept. 15 to prevent a glut in their home markets that would hurt their farmers. Only the transit of sealed goods is allowed in an effort to help Ukraine send its produce overseas as Russia blocks its usual export routes.

Earler in the day, Morawiecki posted on platform X, formerly known as Twitter, that “Poland will not allow Ukraine grain to flood us.”

“Regardless of the decisions of the clerks in Brussels, we will not open up our borders,” Morawiecki wrote, amid intensive campaigning for the elections in which the ruling Law and Justice party wants to win an unprecedented third term.

EU commissioners and, separately, the European Parliament were to debate the issue on Tuesday.

EU Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski said Tuesday he is making efforts to have the embargo extended. Wojciechowski is Poland’s former agriculture minister.

Some leaders of Polish farm groups were to attend the EU Parliament debate, including Michal Kolodziejczak, who is an opposition candidate in the Oct. 15 elections.

Poland has been supporting neighboring Ukraine with military and humanitarian assistance as it fights Russia’s invasion, but following farmer protests, Warsaw has been adamant in banning imports of Ukrainian agriculture products.

“We are ready to support Ukraine during the war and during its reconstruction and we want to take part in the reconstruction but at the same time we must remember about our citizens, our agriculture and our countryside,” Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the ruling party leader and deputy prime minister, said at the start of the Cabinet meeting.

“Our Ukrainian friends should understand that,” he said.

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September 12, 2023