Theme: Sanctions

The United States sanctioned on Wednesday two individuals and one entity accused of helping Iran obtain man-portable air-defense systems (MANPADS). The State Department identified the targets as Mohammed Ali Tolibov, CEO of Belarus-based Armory Alliance; Nigeria-based Vanguard Tactical Supply Limited; and Russia-based Alisher Domullodzhanov. According to the department, the network sought to facilitate the procurement of Chinese-origin MANPADS for Iran, including through false end-users — Israeli newspaper Ynet describes the case as an attempt to purchase hundreds of Chinese-made shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles, with a Belarusian company acting as intermediary. The statement places the move under Operation Economic Outcast, following designations on May 8, June 10 and July 15, 2026.

The US Treasury on Wednesday sanctioned India-based Suniel Kumar Sharma, his wife Jaspreet Preeti Shahid, two other Indian citizens who head two of the couple’s businesses and nine entities connected to Sharma, a network that the department said provided false flags and certifications to sanctioned vessels carrying Iranian petroleum, including vessels operating on behalf of the Iranian military and its proxies. Treasury said the scheme operated from Chandigarh and purported to represent nations from nearly every continent, from Guyana to Eswatini and Laos. The department also sanctioned Turkey-based Fugo Group Services Inc for its ongoing support of Iran’s aviation sector. The measures are part of “Operation Economic Outcast,” which aims to cut off Iran’s ability to sell oil to fund the war.

New Jersey Democratic Governor Mikie Sherrill warned port and terminal operators in the state against “purchasing or unloading the illegal Russian fuel currently bound for the east coast of the United States,” in a letter dated November 2. Sherrill said Congress banned energy imports from Russia in April 2022, in response to the country’s attack on Ukraine, and that importing Russian diesel would violate the ban and could lead to civil and criminal charges. A Treasury license authorizes transactions tied to the sale, delivery, offloading and importation of Russian diesel, including into the United States, through April 7, 2027. The White House defended the authorization: “The President secured a deal to supply global markets with diesel, lowering prices for the United States and the world,” spokeswoman Taylor Rogers said. A Phillips 66 executive said he did not believe Russia has enough distillate to make much of a difference to the global supply crunch.

The National Basketball Association (NBA) removed Rwanda’s army team, the Armée Patriotique Rwandaise (APR), from the Basketball Africa League (BAL) because of US sanctions imposed on the country in March. Mark Tatum wrote that APR would remain “ineligible to compete in the BAL while these sanctions remain in effect”. Last week, the US also imposed new sanctions on Rwanda’s defense ministry over its support for the M23 rebel group, which controls parts of eastern DR Congo.

Japan’s government is considering financial aid to the International Criminal Court (ICC), which has been hit by sanctions, following a call from the court’s president, according to Kyodo News.

Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland called in a joint statement on the European Commission to terminate investment protection treaties with Russia that remain in force in 17 member states. According to Estonia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the treaties are being used to influence European Union (EU) policy in Russia’s favor and their continued application threatens the bloc’s overall economic security. The ministry said the treaties contain provisions that encourage investment in Russia and allow individuals under sanctions to bring claims before international courts against member states and against the EU as a whole. Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said the EU’s task was to ensure “that Russia’s international isolation is maintained without concessions.”

Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever tendered his resignation to King Philippe on Monday as coalition talks deadlocked over a deficit-cutting budget, with the monarch putting off his decision until the end of the week; the government is seeking savings and new revenue to cut a budget deficit that exceeds five percent of GDP. The king will launch discussions with the different party leaders of the governing coalition and will receive De Wever again on Friday. All Belgian political forces oppose using frozen Russian assets to fund Ukraine, and a possible resignation of De Wever would not change that position, the Rapporteur portal reported, as cited by Sputnik.

International Criminal Court (ICC) President Tomoko Akane told the UN General Assembly on Monday that US sanctions against the court are an attempt to obstruct the course of justice. In a virtual address, she said the measures, imposed on October 9 — the same day the Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the Peace Prize to former ICC judge Navi Pillay — target 13 independent judges and prosecutors, including herself, and strike at “the heart of the sovereign equality of states.”

Iran has a two-day plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and resume nuclear talks with the United States, Tehran said on Monday, shortening a process originally expected to take seven days, and has conditioned the reopening on Washington accepting its demands. They include an end to military operations on all fronts, the end of the US naval blockade of Iranian ports, the unfreezing of Iranian assets held abroad and the suspension of sanctions on the country’s oil sector.

A sanctioned Iranian tanker carrying about 500,000 barrels of liquefied petroleum gas slipped past the US naval blockade and delivered its cargo to China, according to United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), which says it filmed the ship at a Malaysian anchorage along the way. On October 8, the US Treasury Department sanctioned the tanker as one of 17 shadow-fleet vessels, saying the Comoros-flagged ship, owned by Marshall Islands-based Gravion Maritime Company, had transported more than 2 million barrels of Iranian propane and butane since September 2025.

Russian diesel fuel is sometimes sold on the European market under different brands, despite Europe’s ban on purchases of Russian oil and petrochemicals, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said, according to TASS. He also said gas reserves in European underground storage facilities are today at their lowest level on record, with winter ahead.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry designated MI6, the UK’s foreign intelligence service, as a hostile group and the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force (RAF) as terrorist organizations, as a reciprocal measure against the British, according to the Tehran Times. The ministry said the decision was adopted in response to British actions over the past year, including the country’s involvement in the US-Israeli war against Iran through the provision of military bases, facilities and logistical support.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi described US Vice President JD Vance’s letter on resuming talks as a “positive step,” in comments to Al Jazeera on Friday, according to the Jerusalem Post. Iran has no plans to meet with US officials, he said, calling reports of such a meeting “merely media speculation”. Araghchi’s listed conditions include lifting the sanctions imposed following the Islamabad memorandum, reducing US forces in the region, restoring oil waivers and releasing all frozen Iranian funds.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the Strait of Hormuz could be reopened within two days if Washington agrees to a set of conditions, including formal recognition of the new shipping route designated by Iran and Oman in the strait. In an interview with Al Jazeera, according to Middle East Eye, Araghchi also cited lifting the sanctions the United States imposed on Iran after the collapse of the Islamabad memorandum in July, reducing the US military presence in the region, reinstating the oil waivers granted in June as part of the memorandum and releasing frozen Iranian funds, including those held in Qatar.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran’s conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz include lifting the sanctions imposed after the Islamabad memorandum, reducing US forces in the region, restoring oil waivers and releasing frozen Iranian funds, including those held in Qatar. Araghchi said talks are under way with Qatari mediators on a plan to reopen the Strait within two days if the United States meets those conditions, according to Al Jazeera.

In a statement on the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting in the United States, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said it delivered an assessment of destructive actions undermining international trade, including the interception of commercial fleets, sanctions, asset freezes and other unscrupulous methods, according to Sputnik. Lavrov laid out Russia’s view of the sources of global tension, “particularly in areas critical to the global economy: energy and food security, and the stable functioning of supply chains and shipping routes on an open and non-discriminatory basis.” The ministry also said Russia remains committed to being a reliable trading partner and a leading supplier of energy, food and fertilizers to a wide range of countries that need them, according to TASS.

North Korea denounced a joint statement by a group of countries monitoring sanctions enforcement against Pyongyang as a “flagrant violation of its sovereignty,” saying it was born out of hostility by the US and the West, the state Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported. “Sanctions and pressure may work on the weak but never on us,” an unnamed foreign ministry spokesperson told KCNA, saying “the stereotyped sanctions racket of the US and the West” could not influence the position of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) as a nuclear weapons state.

India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar criticized at the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting in Atlanta the disruptions in global oil supplies caused by sanctions and chokepoints, saying that deliberate attacks on energy trade and infrastructure were a calculated strategy to hold prices hostage. He said the world faces an energy crisis marked by unpredictability, unaffordable costs and access challenges, rather than a lack of production, according to the Hindustan Times.

At a press conference after the first day of the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting in Atlanta, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that the Russia-US diesel deal irritates US lawmakers and that Moscow is well aware of it, according to TASS. Lavrov said the sanctions imposed under former US President Joe Biden remain in place and that the current administration has added sanctions on Lukoil and Rosneft.

US President Donald Trump said the United States is not lifting restrictions on the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) for now, according to TASS. Asked whether he was considering lifting sanctions on the Russian sovereign fund, Trump said: “Not lifting, or not doing anything.”

The European Commission has received about €8 billion in revenue generated from the reinvestment of frozen Russian sovereign assets held at Belgium-based Euroclear since 2024, according to TASS, citing the depository's report. The latest tranche, of €1.4 billion, was transferred to the Commission in August.

Russia will immediately supply more than 300,000 tons of diesel, plus 500,000 tons in November and 1 million tons immediately thereafter, according to the Associated Press (AP), which reports that US sanctions will not apply until April 2027 to diesel loaded onto tankers as of Friday and that Russia confirmed its readiness to supply oil and oil products to American and global markets.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo’s (DRC) foreign minister told AFP on Thursday that US sanctions on Rwanda were justified, because Kigali had failed to withdraw its troops from Congolese territory as pledged, in an article republished by the Hindustan Times. The United States imposed sanctions on Wednesday on Rwanda’s defense ministry and a financial institution in the country over their alleged ties to the armed group M23 fighting in the DRC.

Seven oil tankers carrying an estimated 288,000 tonnes of Russian diesel are now sailing towards the United States, the first phase of a supply deal negotiated between Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin earlier this month that reverses years of sanctions on Russian oil, according to the Guardian. The newspaper reports it is still uncertain whether the vessels will be able to unload their cargo, amid a political row over the legality of the shipments. The transport is tracked by Greenpeace, which counted seven ships while previous reports had counted three. Putin agreed to supply the US with 1.8 million tonnes of diesel in a deal announced on October 9, starting with 300,000 tonnes immediately, and Trump announced a six-month waiver of existing sanctions to allow the shipments to proceed, according to the Guardian.

The UN General Assembly called for the 34th consecutive year for an end to the US economic, commercial and financial embargo on Cuba in a vote on Wednesday, with the weakest backing for the resolution in two decades. The text passed by 130 votes in favor to 17 against, with 25 abstentions; last year it was adopted by 165 votes to seven, with 12 abstentions. India voted in favor of the resolution, according to The Hindu.

The US Treasury sanctioned Rwanda's Ministry of Defense and the Zigama Credit and Savings Society, a Rwandan financial institution that, according to the department, played a key role in facilitating Rwanda's support for the March 23 Movement (M23) and its political wing, the Congo River Alliance. According to the BBC, the Treasury says the Rwandan ministry directed thousands of troops to fight alongside M23 in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), providing weapons, equipment, logistics and training.

A Reuters investigation identified more than 5,000 agencies with the MOD prefix, for the Ministry of Defense, that form a financial and military machine, in a text republished by Al Arabiya. The secret network of military agencies, with global reach, imported at least $2 billion in hardware, explosives and heavy-duty trucks since January 2025, evading the US naval blockade and Western sanctions, according to the agency.

The United Nations (UN) General Assembly adopted by 130 votes to 17, with 25 abstentions, on Wednesday, a resolution calling for an end to the US economic, commercial and financial embargo on Cuba, according to the Hindustan Times. India voted in favor and said it hopes the embargo will be lifted at the earliest so that Cubans can participate more fully in international cooperation, according to the same outlet.

Venezuela’s acting president, Delcy Rodríguez, asked the Foreign Ministry and the Attorney General’s office to take steps to recover the Venezuelan gold held at the Bank of England and said “ya basta de excusas,” citing an agreement to recover the assets, with reserves worth about $2 billion still frozen, according to EFE.

The United Nations General Assembly approved on Wednesday a resolution calling for an end to the US economic embargo against Cuba, with 130 votes in favor, 17 against and 25 abstentions, according to Opera Mundi. In 2025, the text got 165 votes in favor, seven against and 12 abstentions; the largest backing had been in 2017, when 191 countries supported it. Cuba’s ambassador to Brazil, Victor Cairo, said the rise in opposing votes and abstentions should not be read as a loss of support for the country, according to Brasil de Fato.

The United States on Wednesday banned imports from three Chinese genomics companies over their alleged roles in enabling the forced labor of Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities in China’s Xinjiang region, according to Reuters, in a text republished by Investing.com. BGI Genomics, MGI Tech and Shenzhen BGI Technology, which the US says is also known as the BGI Group, were added to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity List, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

The UN General Assembly votes on Wednesday (28) on the resolution calling for an end to the US economic, commercial and financial blockade of Cuba, the 34th time the text has been taken up since 1992, according to Brasil de Fato. Last year the resolution passed with 165 votes in favor, 7 against and 12 abstentions. Cuba's president wrote on social media that majority international support for Cuba “became evident in the condemnation of the blockade”, according to Opera Mundi.

At the plenary session of the Russia–Africa Economic and Humanitarian Forum, Vladimir Putin said that vile and cynical means of every kind are used, including tariff wars, illegitimate sanctions, economic diktat, blackmail and interference in internal affairs, according to Sputnik. Russia exported 13 million metric tons of agricultural products to African countries in the first nine months of this year, according to TASS, citing Putin. Sputnik also reported that Putin said Russia–Africa trade exceeded US$ 27 billion last year.

The United Kingdom sanctioned 15 senior commanders from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) over suspected atrocities, including conflict-related sexual violence, and allocated £5 million to support survivors of that violence in Sudan. The measures include travel bans and asset freezes, with the stated aim of ensuring that “the horrors that took place at El Fasher will be known to the world”, according to the British Foreign Office.

The Student List, which won Sunday's parliamentary election in Serbia with 52.73 percent of the vote in preliminary results, will not impose sanctions on Russia, its representative Jovo Bakic told RT Balkan. According to him, the new government will keep its longstanding ties with Moscow despite EU pressure.

The United Kingdom sanctioned 15 Sudanese commanders for sexual violence, torture and attacks on civilians during the fall of El Fasher and allocated 5 million pounds to survivors of sexual violence plus another 10 million pounds in humanitarian aid to Sudan. The list includes commanders from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese Armed Forces, all subject to a travel ban and an asset freeze, according to the Guardian.

Former Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić warned that the bloc that won the snap election would impose sanctions on Russia as early as March or April, according to Sputnik.

Sri Lanka's foreign ministry said about 40 Iranian sailors aboard US-sanctioned oil tankers anchored just outside the country's territorial waters received urgent medical treatment on Saturday (October 24, 2026). According to AP, Sri Lanka answered a distress call and provided medical help to the 40 sailors before repatriating them to Tehran, a spokesperson said on Sunday. “We coordinated the transfer alone as per our humanitarian obligations. The Iranian Embassy bore all the expenses,” the ministry said, according to The Hindu.

The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, requested a plan to circumvent banking sanctions using cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology, the Jerusalem Post reported. Economists and entrepreneurs called the proposal “bizarre” and said it offered “no help whatsoever”, according to the same outlet. In an interview on Saturday, Netanyahu said cryptocurrency was one of several possible options and that he would take the central bank’s objections into account, the Middle East Eye reported. In September, sanctions imposed by the UK and 11 other countries focused on the trade of goods from Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.

The Cuban government decided to cancel the planned time change and keep daylight saving time in effect without interruption until November 7, 2027, according to CubaHeadlines. The official statement attributes the decision to the island’s electricity crisis and to a shortage of fuels needed for electricity generation, and points to the United States (US) embargo as the cause, according to the same outlet.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the country needs to prepare an alternative economy capable of functioning by circumventing sanctions, with blockchain technology among the options under consideration, and said it is only a matter of time before US military aid, tens of billions of dollars for the defense budget, ends: "America has changed", he said, according to RT.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged those who want positive change in Cuba to seek a discreet partnership with the CIA, according to Le Monde. “For those who want to bring positive change to Cuba: it is now or never,” he wrote. “Faced with the disappointment caused by unfulfilled promises, corruption and the privileged lifestyle of a handful of people, seize this opportunity to create the change you want through a discreet partnership with the CIA.” The Trump administration has imposed a de facto oil blockade on the island, issued new sanctions against Cuban companies and officials, and indicted former president Raul Castro.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that Israel could face banking sanctions and said he had ordered preparations for alternative financial mechanisms, including blockchain technology, in an interview with Channel 10, according to the Jerusalem Post. Asked whether blockchain technology could provide a means of dealing with economic sanctions, he replied: “One of them. Certainly. And I’ve already asked for a plan to be prepared for that.” Netanyahu also warned that US military aid cannot be taken for granted: “If you think we’re going to continue receiving what I secured twice, and that’s tens of billions of dollars in American aid for the defense budget, prepare yourselves and get used to the fact that it won’t happen, because America has changed.”

Aleksandar Vucic, who resigned as president of Serbia on September 27, promised he would not impose sanctions against Russia and would not recognize Kosovo’s independence, according to TASS. Snap parliamentary elections in Serbia will be held on October 25, with Vucic leading the Progressive Party list as its candidate for prime minister, also according to TASS.

The European Parliament awarded the International Criminal Court (ICC) the Sakharov Prize, the European Union's (EU) top human rights honour, two weeks after US President Donald Trump vowed to dismantle the court through new sanctions. “The European Union is built on respect for multilateralism and international institutions, and this prize recognises the important work of the court in upholding international law and justice,” said European Parliament President Roberta Metsola. The ICC thanked the parliament for the honour “at a time when the Court and its officials face unprecedented challenges”, and its president, Tomoko Akane, said the prize carries particular significance by reaffirming the importance of independent judicial institutions. It is the second international recognition for the tribunal this month: former ICC judge Navi Pillay was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

The EU is considering lifting sanctions on Yusha Group, a Chinese fabric-maker accused of aiding Russia, according to the South China Morning Post. The group was blacklisted by the European Union in February 2025, three years after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Donald Trump’s administration revoked the visas of 61 people linked to Bolivia and Colombia, including officials and former members of both countries’ governments, according to G1. In Bolivia, the restrictions targeted 15 politicians and their close relatives, including lawmakers, judges, prosecutors and former members of security and investigation agencies.

The United States Central Command said its naval blockade of Iran has completed 100 days and prevented at least $25 billion in Iranian oil exports, according to Middle East Eye. There have been no exports or imports to Iran by sea except for the humanitarian aid US forces have allowed, the command said in a post cited by CBS.

The US Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Wednesday on Karnakis & Karnakis, a law firm based in Greece and Panama, for giving legal assistance for years to Iranian shipping networks, while Washington held off striking Iran this month and kept up a blockade of Iranian ports with waves of sanctions on shipping networks, according to CGTN.

US President Donald Trump said Washington is holding back new sanctions and other escalatory steps against Russia while delicate negotiations over Ukraine continue, as the sides may be closer to a deal, according to Sputnik. He also said he resisted calls for tougher measures so as not to disrupt the process or jeopardize the release of American citizen Stephen Hubbard.

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez accused the United States of threatening countries with tariffs, visa restrictions and other retaliatory measures to change their votes on the annual resolution against the embargo on the island, Al Jazeera reported. Rodríguez said Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Washington’s ambassador to the UN, Mike Waltz, were personally leading a campaign he said had been going on for months, and that the US had asked countries to abstain or skip the vote. The nonbinding resolution is expected to be put to a vote on October 27 or 28, according to Al Jazeera.

The United States sanctioned five China-based entities linked to a Chinese national convicted of stealing artificial intelligence technology from Google, UPI reported. The State Department announced the sanctions on Monday under the Protecting American Intellectual Property Act of 2022, which freezes assets and restricts loans from US financial institutions to the named entities. China voiced “firm opposition” to the sanctions on the five entities over alleged AI trade secret theft, DevDiscourse reported.

The US State Department announced sanctions on five Chinese entities under the Protecting American Intellectual Property Act (PAIPA), over suspected theft of trade secrets from American companies. The targets include Shanghai Zhisuan Technology, founded by former Google software engineer Ding Linwei, venture capital firm MiraclePlus and three related entities, according to the South China Morning Post.

US President Donald Trump defended his decision to waive sweeping sanctions planned against Russia as an effort to keep Moscow at the negotiating table, OilPrice reported. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that easing sanctions would embolden Moscow as Russian attacks on Ukraine continued.

British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband on Monday urged companies and individuals not to submit bids for the E1 settlement project in the West Bank, the Jerusalem Post reported. The British government says it has created new powers allowing it to sanction individuals and companies involved in the construction of illegal settlements such as E1.

Brent crude was trading at $107.84 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) at $100.29, up from $105.61 and $93.37 the previous Monday, according to OilPrice. The modest dip followed US President Donald Trump signing on Friday an executive order lifting sanctions on Russian energy, according to the outlet.

US President Donald Trump defended his decision to waive some sanctions on Russia and once again accused Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky of not wanting to end the war, according to France 24. The outlet reported that Trump has also temporarily waived sanctions on Russian diesel, allowing large quantities to flow into global markets to try lowering fuel prices ahead of US elections early next month. TASS, citing Trump, said Zelensky does not want to end the conflict with Russia and probably never did.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said President Donald Trump wants to take a 60-day period to analyze what imposing sanctions on Russia and tariffs on other countries would mean for the global economy and for his country. The law that sanctions Russia and Iran is known as the Graham Act, according to The Hindu.

Members of Congress criticized Donald Trump’s decision to waive sanctions on Russia days before they were to take effect, with Republican Senator Thom Tillis calling it beyond irresponsible on social media and asking what the president and his advisers do not understand about enforcing a law passed 86-11 by the Senate, according to the Associated Press (AP). Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Trump will take 60 days to assess the impact of potential sanctions against Russia, according to TASS.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday criticized Donald Trump’s decision to pull back on sanctions against Russia, saying that a sanctions blackout, easing pressure on the aggressor and financial rewards for Putin all only encourage him to keep attacking. On Friday, Trump signed the executive order suspending the sanctions under the so-called “Lindsey Graham Act”, a law passed in September to target Russia’s energy and defense sectors, including its tanker network used to circumvent US restrictions. Washington is also weighing lifting sanctions on the “shadow fleet” of Russian and Iranian tankers to help bring down diesel prices before the midterm elections, according to The Cradle.

The European Council has warned that companies that become involved in the construction of the E1 settlement in the occupied West Bank could face legal, economic and reputational consequences, according to Middle East Eye. The warning came days before the October 19 deadline for bids in one of the construction tenders. The plan connects West Bank settlements with occupied East Jerusalem and would effectively cut the West Bank in half, making a Palestinian state unviable, according to the outlet. The alert came after Britain’s sanctions on Israeli settlements — including sanctions on bodies that finance settlement construction — came into effect earlier this week.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has warned that Donald Trump’s decision to roll back sanctions on Russia will intensify the Kremlin’s war in Ukraine, according to the Guardian. “Unfortunately, the lifting of sanctions will continue, and I believe that the ‘diesel deal’ is the first step,” he said on Saturday. According to Opera Mundi, Zelenskyy also wrote that easing US sanctions reduces the pressure on the aggressor and that financial rewards for Putin only encourage him to keep attacking.

United States President Donald Trump signed an executive order waiving newly passed Russia sanctions, claiming the move is in the US’s “national interest”, according to Al Jazeera. The blocked measures would have included up to 100 percent tariffs on all goods brought into the US from the five top importers of Russian crude oil or gas, including China and India. Earlier this month, Trump announced a deal to bring stocks of Russian diesel into global markets, and the US Treasury waived sanctions on Russian diesel sales until April 2027.

US President Donald Trump blocked, in an executive order signed on Friday night, sanctions on Russia approved by Congress to punish the country for its war in Ukraine, according to the BBC. In the order, Trump said it is in the US “national interests” to withhold some of those sanctions. Kirill Dmitriev, envoy for Russian President Vladimir Putin, called the suspension of the Graham Act “an important and truly historic moment”, according to The Hindu.

United States (US) officials say Iran has lost 25 billion dollars in oil revenue, according to the Times of India. The top US military commander in the Middle East, Admiral Brad Cooper, said Iran-backed militias are withholding salaries from their own fighters to send money back to the Revolutionary Guard, as sanctions and a naval blockade have cost Iran 25 billion dollars in lost oil revenue, according to Worthy Christian News, in a summary on the aggregator Ground News.

President Donald Trump waived the application of sanctions, restrictions and duties provided for in the Graham Act, in an executive order issued on the evening of Friday, October 16, 2026. The law he waived, whose main backer in Congress was the late Senator Lindsey Graham, would have imposed tariffs of up to 100% within 30 days on all goods brought into the US from the five largest importers of Russian crude oil or gas, according to Reuters. Trump justified the move as being in the “national interest” of the United States, according to the Hindustan Times, which notes the law was signed last month.

The US government announced on Thursday (15) new unilateral coercive measures against Cuba that target the Banco Internacional de Comércio de Cuba (Bicsa), a state-owned bank, applied by the Treasury Department, according to Brasil de Fato.

Paraguay’s technology minister, Gustavo Villate, said on Thursday that sanctions imposed by Beijing would only accelerate joint projects with Taiwan and wrote in a social media post that the relationship with Taipei would “never be on the negotiating table”. On Monday, China sanctioned Villate and Belize’s foreign minister over the two countries’ ties with Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its own territory.

The United States (US) is considering lifting sanctions on tankers in the so-called shadow fleet tied to Russia and Iran to address soaring diesel prices ahead of the midterm elections, according to multiple reports and a senior US official. The plan would allow previously sanctioned vessels to carry legal oil not subject to US sanctions, according to Reuters. Around 15% of the world’s tanker fleet is under US sanctions, according to an Energy Aspects estimate cited by Middle East Eye.

Britain brought new regulations into force on Thursday that significantly expand its sanctions powers, enabling action against construction companies, developers and financial institutions supporting settlement expansion in the West Bank, according to the Jerusalem Post. The measures took effect four days before the deadline for submitting bids for construction in the E1 area between Jerusalem and Ma’aleh Adumim, amid a diplomatic dispute between Israel and Britain.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in Brussels that the EU will not lift any sanctions unless Russia stops the war and backed more sanctions, after saying Moscow did not respect the energy ceasefire “for a single minute”, according to the BBC. EU leaders discussed Ukraine at the Brussels summit, according to The Guardian.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Thursday that his department “will not relent until the Iranian regime’s coffers are empty”, after it announced fresh sanctions on Iran-related individuals and entities, according to Middle East Eye.

The Stop the Settlements Act bill reached 53 co-sponsors this week, including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ro Khanna, according to The Jerusalem Post. The text calls for sanctions on anyone determined to be complicit in the construction of “any Israeli settlement or outpost on or after September 30, 2026”.

Five House Republicans signed on Thursday a letter urging US President Donald Trump to cancel the Russian diesel deal he announced last week, according to The Hill, in a text republished by the Brutalist Report. Trump said Russia agreed to “immediately” supply 300,000 tons of diesel to the global marketplace, with another 500,000 tons on the way in November. The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued a waiver authorizing Russian producers to import diesel fuel into the US, effective through April 6, 2027.

Crude oil prices retreated on the news that President Donald Trump is considering lifting sanctions on shadow-fleet tankers used to carry oil from Venezuela, Russia and Iran, with Brent trading at US$ 104.39 per barrel and WTI at US$ 94.02, after Brent topped US$ 106 earlier in the week, according to OilPrice.

The UK’s new sanctions regime against Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank came into effect on Thursday, October 15, days before the October 19 deadline for construction tender bids for the E1 settlement, with Israel having closed the British consulate last week in protest, forcing the withdrawal of 21 diplomats and the downgrade of the consulate to mission status, according to Middle East Eye.

The administration of US President Donald Trump lifted sanctions on Jorge Rodríguez, the head of Venezuela’s National Assembly and the brother of the nation’s president, according to a notice posted on the US Treasury Department’s website on Wednesday and reported by Reuters. Caracas and Washington have cut a deal that gives the US access to 17 oilfields, and international energy firms have separately committed to expanding projects, Reuters reported.

Russia's special presidential envoy for economic cooperation with foreign countries and head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), Kirill Dmitriev, said he expects the first diesel contracts with the US to be signed in the coming days, according to Sputnik. The deal between the two countries, announced after a phone call between the two presidents on October 9, suspends US sanctions on Russian diesel until April 2027.

Somalia added 10 individuals to its national financial sanctions list over alleged involvement in financing and supporting Al-Shabaab, by decision of the national anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing committee on Tuesday, according to the Shabelle Media Network, in text republished by AllAfrica. Financial entities and people in the country are barred from transacting with those listed and must freeze assets and report operations to the Financial Reporting Center, the committee said.

The US fined Bank of America US$1.2 billion for violating money laundering and sanctions laws, according to the South China Morning Post. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that when a bank of this size fails to meet its anti-money-laundering and sanctions obligations, the consequences extend far beyond its own walls and expose the entire US financial system to significant illicit finance risks. Regulators cite failures involving US$5 billion in suspicious activity, according to the Hindustan Times.

The French navy boarded the oil tanker DF Peak, suspected of helping Russia evade Western sanctions, south of the French Indian Ocean territory of Réunion, according to RFI. French President Emmanuel Macron confirmed the boarding took place on October 12, more than 450 nautical miles south of Réunion. The DF Peak, previously named Kaliningrad, sailed under the flag of Benin and is sanctioned by the United States (US), the European Union (EU), Switzerland, Canada and Japan, according to the Kyiv Independent.

US President Donald Trump defended allowing Russian diesel exports and insisted an energy ceasefire between Kyiv and Moscow is in place despite a lack of confirmation from either side, according to OilPrice. The deal lifted US sanctions on Russian diesel exports to allow Russia to supply almost 2 million metric tons of the fuel, a bid to lower US fuel prices, according to France 24. According to France 24, which cites Reuters and other outlets, US officials have reportedly threatened to cut off intelligence sharing and weapons sales to Ukraine unless it halts its strikes on Russian oil refineries.

The Kremlin said it has seen only in the press The Washington Post’s report about the United States and Europe moving toward a joint peace proposal on Ukraine and said it has received no information about it, according to TASS. The Kremlin said there is no connection between the diesel agreement with the United States and Russia’s position on Ukraine, and described it as a mutually beneficial example of Russian-US cooperation. It also said European Union sanctions and other unilateral actions could hamper the implementation of the fuel deal between Russia and the United States.

Republican Representative Michael McCaul said he fears that lifting sanctions on Russian oil will only fund the Kremlin's war machine, amid the deal announced by Trump on October 10 for Russia to immediately supply more than 300,000 tonnes of diesel to the US and the global market, according to The Hindu; Trump also announced an “energy ceasefire” between Russia and Ukraine, with implications for India, which faces 50% US tariffs over its Russian oil imports.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham told Parliament that the British assessment is that the episode at the Royal Air Force (RAF) base at Fairford was [“highly likely to have been coordinated in Iran [and] almost certainly directed” by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and that the United Kingdom would bring further sanctions against Tehran and the Guard as a result](https://theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/oct/12/iran-revolutionary-guards-irgc-raf-fairford-threats), according to The Guardian. Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the British allegations, calling them a false-flag plot to advance an anti-Iran campaign, according to Mehr News.

Russia will immediately supply over 300,000 tons of diesel fuel to the American and global marketplace, another 500,000 tons in November and 1,000,000 tons immediately thereafter, according to The Hindu. A bipartisan group of six senators urged Trump to reverse course, saying the United States “should not provide Putin with a financial lifeline”, according to The Hindu, which cites the Associated Press (AP), while Representative Lloyd Doggett, the bill's chief sponsor, said Trump is directly violating the law.

Russia said it had sold more than $320 billion worth of hydrocarbons to European countries since 2022, despite sanctions imposed over the war in Ukraine, according to France24. Russian Deputy Prime Minister in charge of energy Alexander Novak put the volume of energy resource deliveries to European Union (EU) countries from 2022 to today at $320.7 billion. According to Novak, European countries bought $21.3 billion worth of Russian hydrocarbons in the first nine months of 2026 alone.

The French Navy boarded the tanker DF Peak south of Réunion on Monday, on suspicion of sailing under a false flag and involvement in fuel transport trafficking, Emmanuel Macron announced. According to Le Monde, the DF Peak, sailing under the Beninese flag, is on the EU sanctions list and has been suspected of belonging to the Russian shadow fleet since June 25, 2024, when it was called Kaliningrad. The interception took place on the morning of October 12, more than 450 nautical miles south of Réunion, and the vessel is under sanctions from the United States, Canada, the EU, Ukraine, Switzerland, Japan and the United Kingdom, according to United24 Media.

In an interview with Reuters on Monday, Cuban Minister of Energy and Mines Vicente de la O Levy said the oil blockade by the United States forced the country to seek its own alternative solutions, using its sun, wind, tides, fuel and Cuban crude oil, and that 144 solar farms with a combined capacity of about 1,418 megawatts have been installed on the island in recent years, with China as the largest supplier of panels, according to Al Jazeera.

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said a suspected plot against Royal Air Force (RAF) base Fairford was almost certainly directed by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), according to Al Jazeera. The British government summoned the ambassador and announced sanctions against two individuals, according to DW.

Navi Pillay, former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and 2026 Nobel Peace Prize winner, condemned US sanctions against the International Criminal Court (ICC), imposed shortly after she won the prize, describing the measures as “unlawful” against a court mandated to uphold the Rome Statute, according to Al Jazeera.

US President Donald Trump defended on Monday the diesel deal with Russia as lawmakers from both parties complained the agreement appears to violate US law barring imports of Russian energy until Moscow ends its aggression against Ukraine. On Sunday (11), a group of Republican and Democratic senators called on Trump to “reverse course” on the deal, saying it may violate a 2022 law designed to support Ukraine in its bid to repel Russian invaders. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told Fox News on Monday that diesel prices depend on the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, not on Ukrainian attacks on diesel targets in Russia.

UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham told Parliament it is highly likely the threats against RAF Fairford were coordinated in Iran and almost certainly directed by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Burnham said the UK would bring further sanctions against Tehran and the IRGC as a result, with more information to follow in an update from Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood. Five men from London drove to Whelford, a village next to a base used by the US air force, in three white vans shortly after midnight on 27 September. They were released on police bail a day later after no bombs or explosives were found. A week later, the US withdrew 12 B-1 bombers from the base, amid reports of concern about a possible drone attack on a base used to attack Iran during the Middle East war in the spring and summer.

Republican Representative Brian Fitzpatrick plans to force a House vote on legislation blocking Russian oil purchases, challenging President Donald Trump’s decision to ease restrictions on Russian diesel exports, according to RFE/RL. Fitzpatrick said the bill will be forced to the Floor via discharge and will pass overwhelmingly. Citing administration figures, Senator Angus King said the deal covered 300,000 tons of diesel for October and 500,000 tons for November, roughly equivalent to a day’s diesel consumption in the United States.

The EU approved the 22nd package of anti-Russian sanctions and blacklisted about 1,600 companies and individuals linked to the defense sector, according to the bloc’s diplomacy chief, Kaja Kallas, in a post on X. The designations list expanded from 3,100 to 4,700 entries, with sanctions on 826 companies and 743 individuals, according to the Council resolution published in the Official Journal of the EU. EU foreign ministers formally adopted the bloc’s largest-ever expansion of its Russia sanctions blacklist, targeting nearly 1,600 people and companies linked to the country’s military-industrial complex, according to The Moscow Times.

China imposed sanctions from Monday on Paraguay's communications minister and Belize's foreign minister over the two countries' ties with Taiwan, according to Reuters, in a text republished by Internazionale. The measures include barring entry visas to Hong Kong and Macau and prohibiting Chinese organizations and individuals from engaging in transactions, cooperation or other activities, the ministry said in two notices.

Two German opposition parties, the Alternative for Germany (AfD) and the BSW (Bündnis Soziale Gerechtigkeit und Wirtschaftliche Vernunft), called for restoring economic ties with Russia, following the example of US President Donald Trump’s diesel deal with Moscow, challenging Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s sanctions policy, according to RT. The joint resolution is scheduled for a vote in the Saxony-Anhalt parliament in Magdeburg on October 14. The AfD and the BSW hold a combined majority following September’s regional elections, although the state legislature has no authority to lift federal or EU sanctions against Russia.

Ukrainian lawmaker Oleksandr Merezhko called the U.S. diesel deal with Russia a betrayal, in an interview with NPR on Sunday.

Republican senator Thom Tillis said the sanctions relief on Russian diesel could violate congressional law, in a Sunday interview on NBC News’s Meet the Press, according to Al Jazeera. “I do believe there’s a legitimate case for saying the president’s not following the law,” Tillis said. A bipartisan group of senators called for an immediate reversal of the relief, saying the United States should not provide Vladimir Putin with a financial lifeline while Russia continues to kill Ukrainian civilians.

Iran's Medical Council called on the World Health Organization (WHO), the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the World Medical Association (WMA) to take immediate action against the use of patients' lives as a tool of political and military pressure, according to the Tehran Times. In an official letter to the three organizations, the council said the United States violates international humanitarian and criminal law through an economic blockade and pharmaceutical sanctions. Council head Mohammad Raiszadeh urged the leaders of health organizations to respond promptly and responsibly to what he described as inhumane acts and the weaponization of medical resources in armed conflicts.

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman, Esmail Baghaei, said the international order collapses as much through aggression as when the use of force becomes normalised and the world stays silent about it, according to Mehr News. The statement reacted to new US sanctions against the International Criminal Court (ICC) and threats to dismantle it, the agency said.

Under the diesel deal between the United States and Russia, Russia would release an initial 300,000 tonnes of diesel to the American and global marketplace, followed by an additional 500,000 tonnes in November, according to the BBC, citing President Donald Trump. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said suspending sanctions provides Moscow with more revenue to wage war and that Europe will not ease pressure.

This year’s Nobel Peace Prize laureate, judge and former UN rights chief Navi Pillay, called US sanctions against the International Criminal Court (ICC) unheard of and unacceptable, according to AFP, in text published by RFI. Pillay said there is so much tension and anxiety over the continued existence of international courts, mainly the ICC in The Hague. Hours after she was named the laureate, the US announced new sanctions against the court, provoking swift condemnation from member states and the United Nations, according to AFP.

The United Nations (UN) Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 2830, extending the arms embargo in Darfur until December 11, to allow more time for negotiations. The text also extended the mandate of the panel of experts monitoring the sanctions until January 11, 2027. A United States proposal to widen the embargo to the entire Sudanese territory was not approved, after opposition from Russia and China, according to Al Jazeera.

The US will ban transactions with the International Criminal Court (ICC), cutting off its resources and crippling its ability to operate, according to Reuters, in a text republished by CNBC Africa — a move that goes far further by potentially punishing companies that provide services to the court itself. The court said that “no one should be punished for serving the cause of justice” and that “history will judge this moment”, according to Middle East Eye.

Montenegro detained and ordered the expulsion of five Russian citizens, including Rybar network founder Mikhail Zvinchuk, citing threats to national and internal security, according to OCCRP. The Associated Press reported that Zvinchuk worked in the Russian Defence Ministry’s press office and founded Rybar, a Telegram channel with more than 1.5 million followers. The United States has offered up to $10 million for information on him and other Rybar figures over attempts to interfere in the 2024 elections.

The Trump administration announced on Friday, October 9, 2026, severe financial sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC), an effort to cripple the global body that prosecutes war crimes, including genocide, and other serious criminal acts, according to The New York Times. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington would ban transactions with what he called a “rogue court”. The court responded that the sanctions are “an assault on the rule of law and on the very foundations of the international legal order,” one that strikes at the principle that no one stands above the law. The EU called the sanctions “deeply regrettable” and said it was ready to take any necessary measures to enable the court to carry out its work. The US justifies the move by the arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over alleged crimes in Gaza, according to AFP, in a text published by France 24.

The United Nations (UN) Security Council extended until December 11 the 1591 Sudan sanctions regime, including targeted sanctions and an arms embargo, to permit additional time for negotiations, according to the UN. The United States (US) proposal to widen the Darfur embargo to the whole country failed, after opposition from permanent members Russia and China, according to Al Jazeera.

The United Kingdom introduced anti-Russian sanctions against twenty-six individuals and companies, according to the updated black list on the Foreign Office website, cited by the TASS news agency. Restrictions applied to Zarubezhneft and INK-Capital, the Capital Credit bank, and businessmen and firms from Canada, China, Kyrgyzstan and the Netherlands. London also imposed sanctions on twelve merchant vessels.

A Guardian analysis found more than 176,000 tonnes of fuel, mostly diesel, loaded at South Korean ports onto seven tankers that made 14 voyages to Russia’s far east in July and August. South Korea said it would verify the reported shipments and act in accordance with the law if a violation of domestic rules is established.

Pemex halted fuel shipments to Cuba in the third quarter of 2026, after an average of 900 barrels per day in the first half, according to TASS, citing El Universal. Cuba received 19,200 barrels per day from Mexico in the first half of 2024 and 19,600 in the same period of 2025, against 900 in 2026. The decline reflects efforts to avoid US sanctions against those who supply crude oil to Havana, according to El Universal.

The UK threatened to expel one Israeli diplomat for each of the 27 British diplomats whose diplomatic status at the consulate would be terminated if Israel closes the British consulate in East Jerusalem, according to Al Jazeera. Israel ordered the consulate’s closure by 8 October, in retaliation for British sanctions on illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank. The Foreign Office did not deny the Ynet report and said it would not comment on speculation, according to The Guardian.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Monday that Tokyo's “unfriendly attacks” will not remain without proportionate countermeasures and that Russia will respond to Japan's new anti-Russian steps, according to Sputnik. Last week, Japan imposed new restrictions against Russia, according to the outlet.

The rial traded at more than 2.5 million rials to the U.S. dollar, according to the Associated Press (AP), in text republished by U.S. News — just 27 days after the previous record low of 2.2 million to the dollar on Sept. 2; the United States announced a new round of sanctions aimed at Iran on Monday and warned every country that does business with the country, according to AP, in text republished by ABC News.

The A7 network, founded in Kyrgyzstan with Moscow's backing, operates through a constellation of shell companies in jurisdictions such as Hong Kong, Turkey and several African countries, according to El País. An investigation by the Financial Times found that more than $6.9 billion passed through international banks such as Standard Chartered, Citigroup and Deutsche Bank via the scheme.

Iran’s rial continued its decline on Saturday, as the central bank announced an injection of up to $2 billion to support the currency while the economy faces US sanctions and a naval blockade, according to Middle East Eye. The dollar was sold at around 2.688 million rials, up from 2.632 million on Friday, according to bon-bast.com.

China’s deputy permanent representative to the UN, Sun Lei, told the General Assembly that Iran must honour its commitment not to develop nuclear weapons and that its legitimate right to the peaceful use of nuclear energy must be respected, according to RT News. China and Russia blocked a resolution submitted by the United States to extend the mandate of a UN sanctions watchdog panel on Iran, according to RT News.

The United States Coast Guard announced on Friday the seizure of two ships bound for Cuba that were illegally carrying thousands of gallons of diesel fuel. The seizures came amid the fuel blockade imposed on Cuba by the Donald Trump administration, according to ABC News. The Coast Guard said it intercepted two vessels carrying illegal fuel as it enforces the blockade, according to The New York Times.

The Trump administration unveiled sanctions against three individuals allegedly related to the Islamist militant group Hamas and against two charities based in France, according to The Guardian. Investigators alleged that the network moved more than $2m to Hamas “through deceptive charitable fronts and cryptocurrency channels”. All property in the US of those sanctioned is blocked and must be reported to the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).

Iraq has cleared 40 daily flights by Iranian airlines, excluding Mahan Air, to and from Najaf international airport, after flights were suspended because of US sanctions, according to Reuters.

The United States Coast Guard says it has intercepted the cargo ship Grace, carrying fuel to Cuba. The 91-metre vessel was stopped in the Caribbean Sea between Cuba and Mexico on September 5, under suspicion of ghost fleet tactics, according to Reuters, in a text republished by SRN News. A United States team boarded the ship and escorted it to Mexico, where a Mexican Navy inspection confirmed the presence of large quantities of fuel.

The Group of Seven (G7) agreed to release 100 million barrels of their energy reserves to help bring down diesel prices. The release begins immediately, over four months, and includes a frontloaded substantial diesel release. The group also reiterated its commitment to avoid export restrictions on energy products between G7 countries, condemned Iran’s attack on its neighbours and said it will maintain sanctions against Russia.

The US Department of the Treasury sanctioned the A7 Network as a significant transnational criminal organization, described as a shadow banking network with ties to Russia used by the Iranian regime to evade sanctions, according to the Treasury. The Treasury Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) also proposed a rule to prohibit fund transfers involving the network sub-agents, according to the statement.

Iran called on Iraq to lift the remaining flight restrictions and fully restore normal air travel between the two countries, according to Al Jazeera, with the Iranian foreign minister condemning Washington efforts to disrupt the country trade and air transport as “illegal and inhumane”.

China’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Fu Cong, delivered a joint statement on behalf of 28 member states on Thursday at the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly, according to CGTN. The statement says unilateral coercive measures are a major source of international turbulence and disorder and that developing countries and their peoples continue to bear the brunt, according to Xinhua.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has ended its contract with the French health and life insurer Axa effective immediately and will be moving to another insurance provider, Al Jazeera reported. Axa and the Court decided by mutual agreement to terminate the contractual relationship, an ICC spokesperson told Reuters news agency. The move comes as the White House was preparing sanctions against the court, The Wall Street Journal reported late last month, amid the court’s call to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said the offer to transfer part of Iran's enriched uranium to Russia remains on the table and that everyone had initially agreed, according to TASS. Putin also said he hopes the Strait of Hormuz will reopen and sanctions on Iran will be lifted, according to the agency.

A Russian drone hit a school in Kyiv on Thursday while children and staff were hiding in shelters, and there were no immediate reports of casualties, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said. Two other Russian drones hit an important bridge connecting eastern and western Kyiv, forcing the suspension of metro services and ground public transport. Ukraine’s nuclear safety watchdog said a Russian drone hit the grounds of a nuclear research facility in Kyiv on Wednesday, causing a fire but leaving the facility’s test reactor undamaged. The United Kingdom announced a new package of 31 sanctions on Russia, aimed at stemming funding to the “Kremlin war chest, propagandists and torturers”.

The United States (US) Treasury sanctioned ten individuals and companies accused of procuring weapons and parts for Iran’s military, with representatives and technology firms based in China, Pakistan, Türkiye and Saudi Arabia among those accused. Three of the sanctioned entities were located in Iran. The Treasury said the action further degrades the Iranian regime’s ability to reconstitute its weapons programs and increases the costs for those who choose to aid Tehran’s military procurement efforts. The sanctions were undertaken as part of Operation Economic Outcast, a Treasury Department effort to further restrict Iran’s access to global markets.

US President Donald Trump denied offering Iran sanctions relief and the release of frozen funds in exchange for nuclear concessions. On Truth Social, he said he offered nothing and called the Axios report a hoax, Middle East Eye reported. The account Trump is rebutting came from journalist Barak Ravid, who wrote on X that the president was ready to ease sanctions and unfreeze Iranian assets in exchange for Tehran meeting US demands on its nuclear program, citing an unnamed US official, according to TASS.

Iraqi Airways has resumed commercial flights between the central province of Najaf and Iranian airports, according to the state-run Iraqi News Agency. The flights restarted on Monday after Najaf and three other Iraqi airports temporarily suspended flights over fears of secondary sanctions by the United States. Earlier in the day, Iran filed a formal complaint with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) over US aviation sanctions, according to the official IRNA news agency.

The European Union (EU) imposed sanctions on 10 Russian judges, prosecutors and officials for preventing the Yabloko party from taking part in the State Duma elections, according to the Council of the EU, in a statement reported by TASS. The sanctions include a ban on entry into the EU. According to the Council, Yabloko was the only political party that openly opposed Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.

Bessent said Iran’s oil shipments have been successfully blocked by the US and the West and that the country’s last batch, of about 15 million barrels, is on its way to China. He told Fox News that Iran will make its final oil deliveries to China and that, after that, it will have nothing to trade for anything, probably within the next two weeks.

All Iraqi airports enforced the US ban on Iranian airlines this week, causing major disruption at the airport serving the holy city of Najaf, the main destination for Iranian flights in Iraq, according to AFP, in a text published by Middle East Eye. The Iranian ambassador to Iraq said, according to ISNA, that there are roughly 25 daily flights from Iran to Najaf and about 15 to Baghdad, and that between 12,000 and 13,000 people travel between the two countries on Iranian airlines every day. The Iraqi government said on Saturday that it is holding direct talks with the United States to exempt some Iraqi airports from US Treasury measures against Iranian airlines flying to airports in the region, according to The National, seeking to free up flights on humanitarian grounds.

Turkey and Oman have halted incoming flights from private carrier Mahan Air, while the United Arab Emirates has stopped all flights by Iranian airlines, according to US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, in a post on X cited by Hindustan Times. Bessent said teams were dispatched across the globe to engage with countries and demand action against the Iranian regime and that “these efforts are delivering results”. The Treasury has held discussions with more than 50 countries, according to the Wall Street Journal cited by Hindustan Times.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent thanked the governments of the United Kingdom, Turkey, Oman and the United Arab Emirates for supporting “Operation Economic Outcast”, Washington’s economic campaign against Iran, according to Middle East Eye. Turkey and Oman halted incoming flights from private carrier Mahan Air, and the UAE stopped all flights by Iranian airlines. The UAE central bank blocked transactions to and from Iran by branches of Iran’s Bank Melli. The U.S. Department of the Treasury said it sanctioned 36 targets for supporting Iran’s aviation sector, which the regime uses to move weapons, personnel and illicit cargo.

Iraq’s government is holding direct talks with the United States on an exemption for certain Iraqi airports from the U.S. ban on Iranian airlines. According to AFP, in a text republished by The Hindu, the exemption would allow flights to resume “for humanitarian reasons, including medical treatment, education, religious visits, and for the interest of civilians.” Four Iraqi airports had suspended all flights to and from Iran days after the United States announced new aviation sanctions on any global companies doing business with Iranian airlines; Iraqi state media said flights were no longer operating from Baghdad, Najaf, Erbil and Sulaimaniyah.

A senior State Department official said the United States wants to become a huge source of India’s energy needs and cited the U.S. operation in Venezuela as a factor opening that market to countries like India, according to The Hindu. The official spoke after Donald Trump signed into law, last week, the act authorizing him to impose tariffs of up to 100% on countries buying Russian oil and gas, including China and India.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has insulated itself against United States sanctions, deputy prosecutor Nazhat Shameem Khan told the Financial Times, in a Reuters text republished by WIMZ. The court moved its office software from Microsoft to the German open-source alternative openDesk and found workarounds for health insurance and banking, and began paying employees months in advance to mitigate payroll disruption. Donald Trump’s administration has prepared sanctions against the entire court and plans to announce them soon.

India told Washington that the new sanctions law against Russia and Iran could affect bilateral ties and the international energy market, according to Shafaqna India, citing a statement from the Indian government. The bill authorises President Donald Trump to impose tariffs of up to 100 per cent on countries that keep buying Russian oil and gas, with India among those exposed, as reported by Streamline Feed from Al Jazeera and The Times of India. New Delhi says its energy policy will keep being guided by energy security for its 1.4 billion people, with diversified sourcing, according to the Economic Times.

Erbil and Sulaimaniya airports in Iraq suspended flights with Iran starting Friday, September 25, 2026, Reuters reported. Together with Baghdad and Najaf, four Iraqi airports have halted operations with the country. The move responds to U.S. sanctions announced against any company doing business with Iranian airlines after September 23. In Najaf, flights were halted before dawn on Friday by a directive from the prime minister’s office, the airport director told Al Arabiya.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said any solution for security in the Black Sea has to be comprehensive and requires “very complex negotiations”, and said Turkey has sent proposals on the matter to Moscow, among others, with no specific talks under way, according to the Russian state news agency TASS. Peskov also tied the return of Russian diesel exports to international markets to the safety of navigation and to the lifting of sanctions and restrictions against Russia, according to TASS.

Najaf International Airport suspended all flights to and from Iran from 7 p.m. EDT on Thursday, September 24, 2026 (2 a.m. Friday in Najaf), until further notice, on official instructions, Shafaq News reports. All inbound and outbound flights between Iran and Najaf were cancelled, leaving pilgrims stranded in Tehran, according to WANA.

The European Union (EU) is weighing measures to curb the return of Russian and Belarusian athletes to international competitions under their national flags, according to reporting by Euractiv. The options under discussion include targeted sanctions, visa restrictions and possible funding curbs; Russian state broadcaster RT reports that the proposals sit in a non-paper by the EU diplomatic service and the European Commission and that no formal proposal by the bloc exists yet.

The countries of the Americas Shield signed on Tuesday, 22 September 2026, a joint declaration designating 24 organisations as “transnational narcoterrorist organisations” and “shared threats”, according to CNN Brasil, G1 and Veja. The text announces asset freezes and immigration and visa restrictions on members, associates and supporters of the groups, as well as criminal liability for those who knowingly provide material support, including logistics. The list includes Brazil’s Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC) and Comando Vermelho (CV), Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), Tren de Aragua, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) and the Sinaloa Cartel, according to CNN Brasil. The declaration was signed by Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, the United States, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guyana, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, the Dominican Republic and Trinidad and Tobago. The signatories declared their intention to ask the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS) for a consultation meeting to create a consultative body under Articles 6 and 13 of the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance (the Rio Treaty), according to CNN Brasil. The push came from US President Donald Trump, and Brazil’s government disputes the designation of the factions as terrorists, according to G1. The Americas Shield was founded in March 2026 on Trump’s initiative and, until this Tuesday, gathered governments aligned with Washington in Latin America, according to Veja.

US federal prosecutors are investigating whether Binance violated sanctions on Iran by failing to stop certain trading on its platform, according to Bloomberg Law, which cited people familiar with the matter, and Reuters, which confirmed the account with its own source. The inquiry is led by the Manhattan US attorney’s office, with the Justice Department’s criminal division in Washington also involved, and it examines whether the crypto exchange knowingly allowed the trading. Both offices declined to comment; Binance said it has a “zero-tolerance” approach to sanctions violations and that it cooperates with law enforcement. On September 14, 2026, the same office sought the forfeiture of about US$ 61 million in crypto that, according to prosecutors, came from black-market Iranian oil sales, in an action filed against the assets, with no accusation against the exchange. Binance paid a US$ 4.3 billion penalty in 2023 over money-laundering and sanctions controls, when the Justice Department calculated that more than US$ 898 million in trades had flowed between US users and users ordinarily resident in Iran from January 2018 through May 2022.

US president Donald Trump said on Tuesday, 22 September 2026, that his administration is studying whether to apply the law expanding sanctions on Russia and Iran, which he signed on 18 September 2026 and which is known as the “hell sanctions” bill: “That’s something we’re certainly studying. It’s a very severe bill,” he told reporters before his meeting with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky on the sidelines of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly, according to TASS. Asked whether he intended to raise secondary sanctions on Russia’s trading partners in his meeting with Chinese president Xi Jinping, set for this week in Washington, Trump replied: “Probably.” The law, chiefly authored by senator Lindsey Graham, who died on 11 July 2026, provides for tariffs of up to 100% on the five largest buyers of Russian oil and gas and secondary sanctions on countries that help Moscow evade the measures, as well as restrictions on Russia’s political and military leadership, state banks and the “shadow fleet” of oil tankers.

Airports in Baghdad, Iraq, and Muscat, Oman, stopped accepting flights by Iranian carriers from midnight on Wednesday, 23 September 2026, when United States sanctions on Iran’s aviation sector took effect. The information comes from Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency, cited by Al Jazeera and Agence France-Presse (AFP). Iraq’s government ordered its civil aviation authority to suspend Iranian flights to Baghdad, according to two sources heard by Reuters, and is considering rerouting those services to Najaf, a pilgrimage destination. Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization is negotiating with Oman and says other international flights, including those to Istanbul, are operating as scheduled, according to the ISNA agency. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Monday, 21 September, that Iranian airlines would be barred from operating worldwide from 23 September under the threat of secondary sanctions on service providers: “you cannot provide them with fuel, you cannot provide them with landing services, you cannot sell them tickets, or you will be knocked out of the dollar system,” he told CNBC. Iran has 27 airlines, most of them domestic, and international routes are concentrated in Iran Air and Mahan Air. Analysts told Al Jazeera that Washington has no authority to close other countries’ airspace, and that cutting off fuel and ground handling achieves an equivalent effect.

International Criminal Court (ICC) deputy prosecutor Nazhat Shameem Khan, who has been running the office since chief prosecutor Karim Khan was removed amid sexual misconduct allegations, said the court has taken no steps to withdraw the arrest warrants or the warrant applications against Israeli officials, despite US sanctions and pressure. “The case is still proceeding,” she told CNN in an interview aired on 18 September 2026. “We have taken no steps to try and withdraw any of those arrest warrant applications or the arrest warrants themselves, and the team continues to investigate in that situation.” The ICC issued the warrants in November 2024 for Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his then defence minister, Yoav Gallant, over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Gaza since October 2023. Washington has since sanctioned most of the court’s leadership, including former chief prosecutor Karim Khan, the two deputy prosecutors and nine judges, among them the court’s president, and secretary of state Marco Rubio pledged in July 2026 to “dismantle the ICC – brick by brick”, as also reported by TASS and Middle East Eye.

Iran’s Civil Aviation Organisation said on Tuesday, September 22, 2026, that international flights by Iranian airlines are operating as scheduled and that no foreign service has been cancelled, according to the ISNA agency, cited by Middle East Eye. The body said no instruction has been issued to halt foreign flights and that passengers would be informed in advance of any schedule change. The statement answers the US Treasury Department’s announcement, which on Monday, September 21, sanctioned 36 targets tied to Iran’s aviation sector and suspended three authorisations that allowed overflights and the entry into Iran of foreign-operated aircraft of US origin or control, according to the Treasury’s release. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC that “on September 23, all Iranian airlines will be grounded globally”, and that the threat also covers airports, fuel suppliers and ticketing agencies, according to the The Jerusalem Post.

China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Tuesday, September 22, 2026, that it opposes the “illegal unilateral sanctions” the United States has imposed on Iran and on Tehran’s trading partners and that it will take “all necessary measures” to protect Chinese interests, according to BBC News and Middle East Eye. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced the package on Monday, September 21, branding it “Operation Economic Outcast” and describing it as the “single greatest financial offensive ever” against Iran, and said “all the Iranian airlines will be shut down around the world” on September 23 under threat of secondary sanctions on anyone servicing them, according to Middle East Eye. The Treasury mapped financial channels and evasion networks and sanctioned almost 60 entities, individuals and vessels. China is the largest buyer of Iranian oil, and David Oxley, chief climate and commodities economist at Capital Economics, told BBC News the package will have “only a limited direct impact” on Iran’s energy flows. The announcement comes before Donald Trump’s scheduled meeting with Xi Jinping on Thursday, September 24, and Iranian Economy Minister Ali Madanizadeh told state television that Tehran is “fully prepared” for the sanctions.

Operators of civilian nuclear plants in the United States bought 13 million separative work units (SWU) of enrichment services in 2025 at an average price of $108.70 per SWU; 77% came from foreign suppliers, and Russia accounted for 26% of that foreign-origin SWU — ahead of France (18%), the United Kingdom (14%) and the Netherlands (8%), according to the annual uranium marketing report of the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). The 2024 US law that bans imports of Russian uranium lets the Department of Energy grant waivers when alternative supply is unavailable, and that authority expires in January 2028; new enrichment projects in the United States and among allies are not expected to reach commercial scale before 2029, according to Bloomberg. Foreign Policy reported on Tuesday that Russia remains the largest supplier of enrichment services to US nuclear utilities.

India’s largest refiners have begun seeking alternative crude cargoes for November delivery and may cut purchases of Russian oil after the US sanctions law raised the threat of tariffs of up to 100% on goods from countries that buy Russian energy, Bloomberg reported, citing people involved in the discussions. Russian imports have already eased and are expected to average about 1.9 million barrels a day in September, more than 35% of the total and the lowest since April, according to Kpler. India is the world’s third-biggest crude buyer and had taken more than half of its imports from Russia in some recent months. Iraq has emerged as the main alternative: 535,000 barrels a day in the first half of September, against an August average of 163,000 barrels a day, also according to Kpler. Replacing the Russian volumes will be hard: Urals delivered to India cost about US$133 a barrel at the end of last week, according to Argus Media, and negotiations for November cargoes begin in the final week of this month.

European Union ambassadors failed on Monday, September 21, to finalise the deal that would remove businessmen Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman from the bloc’s sanctions list, and talks resume on Tuesday, September 22, at 06:00 GMT. One diplomat told AFP that Latvia had lodged a last-gasp objection. According to diplomats cited by AFP and Euronews, the package negotiated by Ireland’s Council presidency would have delisted both men and renewed sanctions on about 3,000 other Russia-linked individuals and entities for 36 months, far longer than the usual six or 12 months. Renewal requires unanimity among the 27 member states, and the regime expires at the end of Tuesday. France had pushed to remove Usmanov, who holds Russian and Uzbek citizenship, citing “national security”; Reuters, citing three European diplomats, linked the French request to Azerbaijan’s detention of at least two French nationals, an account Baku rejects. Luxembourg demanded the same treatment for Fridman, who is seeking US$ 16 billion in arbitration against the grand duchy. Lithuania and the other Baltic states opposed the move, and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha wrote that delisting “is unacceptable and would send the wrong signal to Moscow”.

South Korean President Lee Jae-myung takes a phased proposal on North Korea’s nuclear programme to the UN General Assembly on Tuesday: halt the advance of nuclear and missile capabilities, then reduce them, then dismantle them, according to the Associated Press (AP) and The Korea Herald. Lee says denuclearisation cannot be achieved in the short term and that sanctions pressure has made the problem worse, and he offers Pyongyang three commitments: respect for the North’s system, no unification by absorption and no hostile intent, according to The Korea Herald and the Inquirer. In an interview with The New York Times, he backed easing sanctions on the North, according to the paper. The speech follows Kim Jong-un’s remarks on Sunday that there is no reason not to sit down with Washington if the United States drops its demand for denuclearisation, and his repeat that the North will never give up its arsenal, according to AP. Lee also called on the Security Council to add seats for non-permanent members, according to Bloomberg.

US president Donald Trump said on Monday that Washington is negotiating a ‘massive deal’ to buy potash from Belarus at prices ‘substantially less’ than what it currently pays Canada. ‘The United States is working on a massive Deal with respect to the purchase of Potash from Belarus. The pricing would be for substantially less than we are currently paying to Canada, very good news for our Farmers and Ranchers,’ he wrote on Truth Social, according to AFP and the Anadolu agency. Potash is a fertiliser input, and the United States imported about 13 million tonnes in 2025, nearly 90% of it from Canada, according to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) cited by Bloomberg; Belarus shipped more than 700,000 tonnes to the US in 2021, before American restrictions. Alexander Lukashenko himself said on Monday that there is no volume available to sell because ‘everything is contracted’, according to his office cited by The Hill. Exiled Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya warned the United States against the deal, which AFP described as risky; the European Union (EU) keeps restrictions on potash imports from Belarus and has frozen the assets of state producer Belaruskali.

Iraq will suspend flights by Iranian airlines from dawn on Tuesday to comply with the US Treasury decision that shuts Iranian carriers out of international traffic on September 23, according to two Iraqi government sources heard by Agence France-Presse (AFP); one of them warned that countries that do not enforce the measure risk sanctions. Georgia has also barred Iranian carriers, and Mahan Air suspended its services to Turkey at the request of the Turkish government. Iran Air says it will keep its route to Najaf, in Iraq, despite the measure.

European Union (EU) ambassadors agreed on Monday to lift sanctions on businessmen Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman as long as no EU government objects within the next few hours, diplomats told Reuters. In exchange, sanctions on some 3,000 other Russia-linked individuals and entities would be renewed for 36 months — far longer than the usual 6 or 12 months — Euronews reported. France pushed for Usmanov, who holds Russian and Uzbek citizenship, to be removed, and Luxembourg conditioned its support on the same treatment for Fridman, who is seeking $16 billion from the grand duchy in arbitration. Both men were sanctioned in 2022, after the invasion of Ukraine. Lithuania and the Baltic states opposed the move: “It would send a lot of signals, and all of them are bad signals,” Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys told Reuters. Ukrainian Prime Minister Sergii Koretskyi called the decision “immoral and self-destructive.” The EU’s Russia sanctions regime expires at midnight on Tuesday (22).

Hungary’s parliamentary foreign affairs committee chairman, Márton Hajdú of the Tisza party, asked Republican US lawmakers to exempt the country from the sanctions law Donald Trump signed on Friday, which authorises tariffs of up to 100 percent on countries that buy Russian energy or help others evade the measures, according to Hungary Today and Mezha. Hajdú said Tisza is aware of the risks of dependence on Russian energy and that a plan to reduce it will be ready soon; Hungary imports about 5 million tonnes of Russian crude a year and 4.5 billion cubic metres of gas, according to Hungary Today. The law’s final text does not name Hungary, and China, India and Turkey are cited as potential targets.

The US Treasury Department sanctioned VTB, Russia’s second-largest bank, on Monday for maintaining correspondent banking relationships with already sanctioned Iranian banks and helping Tehran evade US sanctions. According to Treasury, the bank set up correspondent accounts in Iranian rials and Russian rubles and now ranks among the most comprehensively sanctioned banks in the world. The move follows August sanctions on the Dubai branch of Egypt’s Banque Misr and September measures against Turkey’s Golden Global Yatirim Bankasi, part of a secondary sanctions campaign against foreign institutions sustaining Iran’s economy.

Halliburton signed memorandums of understanding with Brazil’s Eneva and WESCA to assess and pursue oil and gas opportunities in Venezuela, the US oilfield services company said on Monday. The agreements are non-binding: they cover cooperation to identify opportunities and support field evaluation and development planning, with no obligation to invest, no set timeline and no disclosed revenue. The move follows the US capture of Nicolás Maduro in January and the easing of sanctions: in February the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) authorised the supply of goods, technology, software and services for oil and gas exploration and production in the country and gave BP, Chevron, Eni, Repsol and Shell broad scope to operate, according to Reuters.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that “all the Iranian airlines will be shut down around the world” on September 23, under the threat of secondary sanctions on anyone providing them services: “If they land, you cannot provide them with fuel, you cannot provide them with landing services, you cannot sell them tickets or you will be knocked out of the dollar system,” he told CNBC. Bessent also said China has been “very engaged” in the economic pressure campaign against Iran, a day after meeting Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in New York, according to Reuters and The Hindu.

The Netherlands is preparing for United States sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC) that could be announced as early as Monday, according to The Associated Press (AP), which spoke to diplomatic and government officials on condition of anonymity; The Wall Street Journal reported that Washington is preparing sweeping economic restrictions on the institution. The measures would escalate the Trump administration’s campaign against the court, which has already hit more than a dozen officials, including half of its sitting judges, and which Secretary of State Marco Rubio described as a campaign to “dismantle the threat” posed by the tribunal. The Hague is looking at ways to keep paying staff and protecting witnesses, and has asked for a six-month grace period before the sanctions take effect. The measures are retaliation for the court’s investigations of US and Israeli officials, whose countries are not members of the court, and Venezuela and Chad have announced in recent months that they will leave the body.

European Union ambassadors failed to reach a deal on Monday to renew sanctions against Russia, which expire at midnight on Tuesday (22), according to AFP and Euractiv. France has joined Slovakia in demanding the removal of billionaire Alisher Usmanov from the list, citing “national security,” while Luxembourg makes the removal of Mikhail Fridman a condition; a diplomat told AFP that the compromise on the table removes both names and extends the rest for up to 36 months. Renewal requires unanimity among the 27, and on 14 September the bloc had already extended the listings by only seven days — a move EUobserver calls unprecedented since 2022. The list covers around 3,000 people and entities. The Financial Times reported that the French request is tied to a possible deal to release French nationals held in Azerbaijan; no government has confirmed the link.

Donald Trump signed on Friday the Russia sanctions law that requires the US president to impose, within 30 days, tariffs of up to 100 percent on goods from the five largest buyers of Russian oil and gas and duties of at least 500 percent on Russian goods, according to Reuters and Fortune. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday that Russia “does not threaten any state in Europe” and that the sanctions law does not help revive bilateral relations, according to Sputnik.

The North Korean group WaterPlum infected around 30,000 devices across several countries, according to a joint law enforcement advisory cited by BleepingComputer. The notice attributes the campaign to the North Korean government.

North Korea said new sanctions cannot block its development, according to KCNA as cited by Reuters.

The US is preparing sanctions against the International Criminal Court, according to sources cited by The Hindu and Mehr News; a diplomat told TASS that Dutch companies are already cutting ties with the court over fears of the measures.

Ankara clears new licence for blending terminal