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View the full Greenbook here.

“This Budget builds on our economic progress by making smart, fiscally responsible investments, which would be more than fully paid for by requiring corporations and the wealthy to pay their fair share. The Budget’s growth-enhancing investments will continue the economic progress of the last two years and further boost the economy’s productive capacity.”

—Secretary of the Treasury Janet L. Yellen

WASHINGTON—Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury released the General Explanations of the Administration’s FY2024 Revenue Proposals, or “Greenbook,” a document to explain the revenue proposals included in President Joe Biden’s Budget. The Greenbook outlines critical tax proposals that will support President Biden’s investments in the American people by ensuring the wealthy and large corporations pay their fair share, providing relief to hard-working families, and continuing to reduce the deficit.

Under President Biden, the United States has experienced tremendous economic progress. The President’s strategy to grow our economy from the bottom up and the middle out has helped jumpstart one of the strongest economic recoveries in modern history, including the lowest unemployment rate in 54 years, the largest two-year job gains on record, and the strongest two years for small business creations in history. The President’s FY024 Budget will continue this momentum by continuing to lower costs for families, protecting and strengthening Social Security and Medicare, and reducing the deficit.

The Administration’s revenue proposals would ensure that the wealthy and large corporations pay their fair share and, in doing so, fully pay for the investments proposed in the President’s Budget while generating nearly $3 trillion in additional deficit reduction over the next decade. The proposals would also provide relief by expanding tax credits for workers and families.

Key revenue proposals in the Greenbook would:

• Ensure the wealthy and large corporations pay their fair share, by:
  • Implementing a global minimum tax that will strengthen the taxation of corporations’ foreign income by ensuring that all multinationals pay at least the minimum rate on their earnings in each jurisdiction, thereby stopping the race to the bottom on corporate tax rates and leveling the playing field for U.S. businesses.
  • Implementing a Billionaire Minimum Tax of 25 percent on the wealthiest taxpayers to ensure the top 0.01 percent pay taxes as they go, just like everyone else who earns a paycheck.
  • Raising the tax rate on corporate stock buybacks to help reduce the differential tax treatment between buybacks and dividends and encourage businesses to reinvest profits in their workers or in the company’s growth.
  • Closing Medicare tax loopholes and making the Medicare Trust Fund solvent for another quarter century by expanding the Net Investment Income Tax on income over $400,000 to cover all pass-through business income not otherwise covered by the Net Investment Income Tax or self-employment taxes, and by increasing the additional Medicare tax rate and the Net Investment Income tax rate by 1.2 percentage points above $400,000 for a total Medicare tax rate of 5 percent on high-income taxpayers.
     
• Provide relief to workers and families, by:
  • Expanding tax credits for health insurance premiums that were first enacted in the American Rescue Plan and extended in the Inflation Reduction Act. As a result of these efforts to make health insurance more affordable, a record number of Americans have enrolled in insurance coverage through the Affordable Care Act marketplace and last year, the uninsured rate dipped to its lowest level in history.
  • Expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit to cover more workers without children.
  • Expanding the Child Tax Credit and making it fully refundable and available in advance monthly, a more practical solution to ensure that families can receive relief when they need it most instead of in one lump sum at the end of the year. In 2021, an expanded CTC lifted 2.1 million children out of poverty and helped bring about a historic low in child poverty.
  • Expand and enhance the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, the largest federal incentive for affordable housing construction and rehabilitation, to boost the supply of housing that is affordable for low-income renters.
     
• Make additional smart, common-sense reforms to the tax code.
  • Eliminate fossil fuel tax preferences that distort markets by encouraging more investment in the fossil fuel sector than would occur under a neutral system.
  • Close the carried interest loophole that allows some investment fund managers to pay tax on their earnings as if they are investment gains rather than wages.
  • Close estate and gift tax loopholes that allow the wealthy to reduce their tax by using complicated trust arrangements to transfer their assets to their heirs.

 

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WASHINGTON – Today, after a virtual meeting, the Deputies of the multilateral Russian Elites, Proxies, and Oligarchs (REPO) Task Force released the following statement on the group’s continued work.

 

One year into Russia’s unprovoked and illegal war of aggression against Ukraine, the Russian Elites, Proxies, and Oligarchs (REPO) Task Force has leveraged extensive multilateral coordination to exert unprecedented pressure on sanctioned Russians.  The members of the REPO Task Force have successfully blocked or frozen more than $58 billion worth of sanctioned Russians’ assets, tracked sanctioned Russian assets across the globe, and heavily restricted sanctioned Russians from the international financial system. 

REPO members have achieved notable successes through close and extensive national and international coordination, collaboration, and information sharing.  The Task Force continues to leverage financial intelligence, law enforcement information, joint investigations, and the assistance of the private sector to deny the Kremlin access to the revenue streams and economic resources Russia uses to wage its illegal war.

In the year since Finance, Justice, Home Affairs, and Trade Ministers and European Commissioners launched the REPO Task Force, REPO members have:

• Blocked or frozen more than $58 billion worth of sanctioned Russians’ assets in financial accounts and economic resources.
• Ensured that Russian Central Bank and Russian National Wealth Fund assets in our jurisdictions remain immobilized, and cannot be used to support Russia’s war effort.
• Seized or frozen luxury real estate and other luxury assets owned, held, or controlled by sanctioned Russians, valued in the many billions of dollars.
• Seized, frozen, or detained yachts and other vessels owned, held, or controlled by sanctioned Russians, and conducted asset tracing activities to identify, locate, freeze and seize yachts, aircraft, and other property located around the globe.   
• Convened six multilateral meetings, consistently shared information, and taken collective action to restrict sanctioned Russians’ access to the global financial system, making it more difficult for Russia to procure technology necessary to sustain its unjust war in Ukraine.
• Worked collectively to investigate and counter Russian sanctions evasion, including attempts to hide or obfuscate assets, illicit cryptocurrency and money laundering schemes, illicit Russian defense procurement, and sanctioned Russians’ use of financial facilitators.
• Led and coordinated sanctions enforcement efforts with international partners and counterparts, such as the European Commission’s Freeze and Seize Task Force, including in detecting and fighting sanctions evasion through joint outreach, notably conducted by senior leaders and officials of REPO members. 
• Worked to update or expand and implement REPO members’ respective legal frameworks that enable the freezing, seizure, forfeiture and/or disposal of assets. 
• Effected the first forfeiture of assets of a sanctioned Russian, paving the way for the transfer of $5.4 million in funds as foreign assistance to Ukraine.

 

As Russia’s war of aggression continues, REPO members remain determined in their commitment to impose steep costs on Russia.  REPO will continue to identify, locate, and freeze the assets of sanctioned Russians, with the aim of depriving the Kremlin of the funds it needs to fight its illegal war.  REPO members are determined, consistent with members’ respective legal systems, that Russia’s sovereign assets in REPO member jurisdictions will remain immobilized until there is a resolution to the conflict that addresses Russia’s violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty and integrity.  Any resolution to the conflict must ensure Russia pays for the damage it has caused.

REPO will redouble efforts to hold Russia accountable for its unjust war, countering Russian efforts to undermine, circumvent, or evade REPO’s collective sanctions.  REPO members call upon the international community to join these multilateral efforts to counter Russian sanctions evasion and circumvention attempts.  To underscore REPO’s intent to work collaboratively with international partners and the private sector, the members of the REPO Task Force are jointly issuing a Global Advisory on Russian Sanctions Evasion .  This advisory will contribute to effective sanctions implementation and compliance across REPO members’ jurisdictions by preventing the undermining of financial sanctions, export controls, and other restrictive measures designed and implemented in response to Russia’s unprovoked war of aggression in Ukraine.

 

WASHINGTON — Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned 39 entities constituting a significant “shadow banking” network, one of several multi-jurisdictional illicit finance systems which grant sanctioned Iranian entities, such as Persian Gulf Petrochemical Industry Commercial Co. (PGPICC) and Triliance Petrochemical Co. Ltd. (Triliance), access to the international financial system and obfuscate their trade with foreign customers. Iranian exchange houses create front companies abroad to enable trade on behalf of their Iranian clients, with foreign currency transactions maintained via internal ledgers. PGPICC is the marketing arm of sanctioned Iranian petrochemical conglomerate Persian Gulf Petrochemical Industries Company (PGPIC), which generates the equivalent of tens of billions of dollars annually for the Iranian regime.

“Iran cultivates complex sanctions evasion networks where foreign buyers, exchange houses, and dozens of front companies cooperatively help sanctioned Iranian companies to continue to trade,” said Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo. “Today’s action demonstrates the United States’ commitment to enforcing our sanctions and our ability to disrupt Iran’s foreign financial networks, which it uses to launder funds.”

Today’s action was taken pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13846 and follows OFAC’s February 9, 2023 designation of nine companies in Iran, Singapore, and Malaysia for their role in the production, sale, and shipment of hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of Iranian petrochemicals and petroleum to buyers in Asia on behalf of Triliance.

PGPICC was designated pursuant to E.O. 13382, a WMD authority, on July 7, 2019, for being owned or controlled by PGPIC, which itself was designated pursuant to E.O. 13382 for having provided financial support to Khatam al-Anbiya, the engineering conglomerate of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).  

Triliance was designated pursuant to E.O. 13846 on January 23, 2020, for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services in support of, the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), by facilitating the sale of Iranian petroleum products from NIOC.

 

Web of Foreign Front Companies Facilitating PGPICC Petrochemical Sales

A vast network of front companies operating in Hong Kong, Singapore, and the UAE, run by foreign exchange houses in Iran and the UAE, enable PGPICC to orchestrate the sale of billions of dollars’ worth of petrochemicals from Iran-based companies such as Mehr Petrochemical Company (Mehr) to buyers overseas, all while concealing its involvement in these sales. In 2022 alone, PGPICC marketed millions of dollars of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) produced by Mehr to third-party buyers for delivery to Türkiye and Asia.

UAE-based Bavi General Trading CO L.L.C (Bavi General) and Iran-based Kambiz Nabizadeh and Partners Exchange (Nabizadeh Exchange) play a key intermediary role in these transactions. Nabizadeh Exchange serves as a vital trustee during the transfer of payments between PGPICC front companies and the buyers of their petrochemicals. Bavi General has helped coordinate tens of millions of dollars’ worth of payments for front companies operated by PGPICC and Triliance.  

A significant number of front companies operate out of Hong Kong, from where they receive the proceeds of petrochemical sales. Between 2021 and 2022, Hong Kong front companies Foraben Trading Limited; Goldenix Co., Limited; Hongkong Well International Trading Limited; Horryzin International Trade Co., Limited; Jin Xin Nuo Limited, Lowell Limited; Marafi International Trading Co., Limited (Marafi); Melikal for Medical & Medicine Trading Co., Limited (Melikal); Multi Well Trading Co., Limited (Multi Well Trading); Nashville HK Limited; Qi Group Limited (Qi Group); Salita Trade Limited; and Univest Limited transferred tens of millions of dollars related to petrochemical sales to China. PGPICC has used entities like Melikal to disguise its role in enabling Iranian petrochemical sales by using companies that appear to engage in medical goods trade while conducting non-medical transactions.

Lowell Limited has received U.S.-dollar transactions from PGPICC customers, including Ningbo More Interest I/E Co., Limited (Ningbo More) and U.S.-designated Hong Kong Aeonian Complex Co. Limited (Hong Kong Aeonian). Marafi has facilitated the sale of millions of dollars’ worth of China-bound petrochemicals to U.S.-designated Access Technology Trading L.L.C (Access Technology). Hong Kong-based Unite Resources Co., Limited has purchased polyethylene from PGPICC and paid its front companies Qi Group, Univest Limited, and Multi Well Trading. Singapore-based Global Visiness PTE. LTD. has received millions of dollars in payments from buyers purchasing HDPE and low-density polyethylene (LDPE) from PGPICC for delivery to China.

To facilitate the shipment of these petrochemical sales, PGPICC and Triliance have coordinated on vessel charters. One such company, Hong Kong-based Glotreasure Company Limited, serves as a front for Triliance to facilitate fee payments for vessels involved in these shipments.  

UAE-based front companies, primarily in Dubai, also process a large volume of payments from overseas customers of PGPICC. In early 2022, PGPICC utilized Greenland Oil & Gas Trading FZE to receive payment for petrochemical sales to Albahr Alaahmar Offshore Refined Oil Product Trading L.L.C (Albahr Alaahmar Offshore). From 2021 to 2022, PGPICC front companies Alshivan Line Trading FZE, Bordo Plastic Materials Trading L.L.C, Longford Trading L.L.C, and Nord Trading L.L.C received tens of millions of dollars in payments from buyers. In early 2022, a Dubai-based company, on behalf of sanctioned company Access Technology, paid front company Fairtrade Non Edible Oil and Liquefied Natural Gas Trading L.L.C for a PGPICC HDPE shipment to India. Shams Alrabeea Chemicals Trading L.L.C (Shams Alrabeea) acted as a front company to facilitate hundreds of metric tons of petrochemical sales on behalf of PGPICC. Sharjah-based Famin FZE has handled millions in payments from foreign buyers for petrochemicals shipped to Southeast Asia.

 

Additional Foreign Buyers Engaging in Sanctions Evasion

A geographically diverse set of overseas buyers of Iranian petrochemicals provide a critical financial lifeline for PGPICC and Iran. In 2022 alone, Hong Kong-based HK Sihai Yingtong Industry Co., Limitedpurchased shipments of gas oil and granular urea from PGPICC valued at more than $100 million, chiefly through front companies, for delivery to Poland and the UAE. In late 2022, Marshall Islands-based Dragon Trading Limited received payments on behalf of PGPICC for petrochemicals sales to PGPICC customers, including Ningbo More and U.S.-designated Hong Kong Aeonian. Ningbo More sent payments to PGPICC in late 2022 through Hong Kong-based Hongkong Canway Co., Limited for polyethylene intended for buyers in China.

Dubai-based Albahr Alaahmar Energy FZE and Albahr Alaahmar Offshore have coordinated the purchase of tens of millions of dollars’ worth of petrochemicals from PGPICC since early 2022. Albahr Alaahmar Offshore utilized Dubai-based front company Sparrow Trading FZEto organize the purchases. Another Dubai-based buyer, Al Kashaf Petroleum and Petrochemical Trading L.L.C, purchased petrochemicals from PGPICC using front company Shams Alrabeea to mask the buyer and seller of the goods.

Türkiye-based Dayan Global Trade Dis Ticaret Ithalat Ihracat Sanayi Ve Ticaret Limited Sirketi purchased petrochemicals from PGPICC throughout 2022, often through front companies to obscure its role in the purchases. Also, during 2022, Marshall Islands-based Herstel Trading Limitedserved as a front for Türkiye-based Naab Kimya Dis Ticaret Limited Sirketi, enabling it to purchase millions of dollars’ worth of HDPE from PGPICC for onward shipment to China.

Since mid-2020, Pakistan-basedAlliance Energy (Pvt.) Limitedhas purchased multiple shipments of butane and propane from PGPICC for delivery to Pakistan.

 

Bases for Designation

OFAC is designating the following entities pursuant to section 1(a)(iii)(A) of E.O. 13846 for, on or after November 5, 2018, having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, PGPICC:  

• Albahr Alaahmar Energy FZE
• Albahr Alaahmar Offshore Refined Oil Product Trading L.L.C
• Alliance Energy (Pvt.) Limited
• Al Kashaf Petroleum and Petrochemical Trading L.L.C
• Alrabeea Chemicals Trading L.L.C
• Alshivan Line Trading FZE
• Bavi General Trading (L.L.C.)
• Bordo Plastic Materials Trading L.L.C
• Dayan Global Trade Dis Ticaret Ithalat Ihracat Sanayi Ve Ticaret Limited Sirketi
• Dragon Trading Limited
• Fairtrade Non Edible Oil and Liquefied Natural Gas Trading L.L.C
• Famin FZE
• Foraben Trading Limited
• Global Visiness PTE. LTD.
• Goldenix Co., Limited
• Greenland Oil & Gas Trading FZE
• Herstel Trading Limited
• HK Sihai Yingtong Industry Co., Limited
• Hongkong Canway Co., Limited
• Hongkong Well International Trading Limited
• Horryzin International Trade Co., Limited
• Jin Xin Nuo Limited
• Kambiz Nabizadeh and Partners Exchange
• Longford Trading L.L.C
• Lowell Limited
• Marafi International Trading Co., Limited
• Mehr Petrochemical Company
• Melikal for Medical & Medicine Trading Co., Limited
• Multi Well Trading Co., Limited
• Naab Kimya Dis Ticaret Limited Sirketi
• Nashville HK Limited
• Ningbo More Interest I/E Co., Limited
• Nord Trading L.L.C
• Qi Group Limited
• Salita Trade Limited
• Shams Alrabeea Chemicals Trading L.L.C
• Sparrow Trading FZE
• Unite Resources Co., Limited
• Univest Limited

 

OFAC is designating Glotreasure Company Limited pursuant to section 1(a)(iii)(B) of E.O. 13846 for, on or after November 5, 2018, having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, Triliance.

 

Sanctions Implications

As a result of today’s action, all property and interests in property of these targets that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons must be blocked and reported to OFAC. In addition, any entities that are owned, directly or indirectly, 50 percent or more by one or more blocked persons are also blocked. OFAC’s regulations generally prohibit all dealings by U.S. persons or within the United States (including transactions transiting the United States) that involve any property or interests in property of blocked or designated persons.

In addition, persons that engage in certain transactions with the individuals and entities designated today may themselves be exposed to sanctions or subject to an enforcement action. Furthermore, unless an exception applies, any foreign financial institution that knowingly facilitates a significant transaction for any of the individuals or entities designated today could be subject to U.S. sanctions.

The power and integrity of OFAC sanctions derive not only from its ability to designate and add persons to the SDN List, but also from its willingness to remove persons from the SDN List consistent with the law. The ultimate goal of sanctions is not to punish, but to bring about a positive change in behavior. For information concerning the process for seeking removal from an OFAC list, including the SDN List, please refer to OFAC’s Frequently Asked Question 897 here. For detailed information on the process to submit a request for removal from an OFAC sanctions list, please click here.

Click here for identifying information on the entities designated today.

 

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WASHINGTON — Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is designating a network of five companies and one individual for supporting Iran’s unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) procurement efforts. This People’s Republic of China-based network is responsible for the sale and shipment of thousands of aerospace components, including components that can be used for UAV applications, to the Iran Aircraft Manufacturing Industrial Company (HESA). HESA has been involved in the production of the Shahed-136 UAV model that Iran has used to attack oil tankers and has exported to Russia. HESA was designated pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13382 on September 17, 2008 for being owned or controlled by Iran’s Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics (MODAFL) and for having provided support to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

“Iran is directly implicated in the Ukrainian civilian casualties that result from Russia’s use of Iranian UAVs in Ukraine,” said Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson. “The United States will continue to target global Iranian procurement networks that supply Russia with deadly UAVs for use in its illegal war in Ukraine.”

Today’s actions are taken pursuant to E.O. 13382, which targets weapons of mass destruction proliferators and their supporters. Since September 2022, the United States has issued six rounds of designations of individuals and entities involved in the production and transfer of Iranian UAVs.

 

Sale and Shipment of UAV Components to Iran

Hangzhou Fuyang Koto Machinery Co., Ltd (Koto Machinery), a China-based company, used its business infrastructure to facilitate the sale and shipment of aerospace components, including light aircraft engines applicable for Iran’s Shahed series UAVs, to HESA in Iran. To obscure its activity, Koto Machinery used Hong Kong-based front company, Raven International Trade Limited (Raven), to facilitate transactions worth millions of dollars for aerospace components.

China-based Guilin Alpha Rubber & Plastics Technology Co., Ltd (Guilin Alpha) has facilitated the sale and shipment of thousands of aerospace components worth over a million dollars to HESA in Iran.  

China-based S&C Trade PTY Co., Ltd (S&C Trade), its China-based employee Yun Xia Yuan, and China-based Shenzhen Caspro Technology Co., Ltd (Caspro), have facilitated the sale and shipment of thousands of aerospace components worth hundreds of thousands of dollars for fixed-wing, rotorcraft, and UAV applications to HESA in Iran.

Koto Machinery, Raven, Guilin Alpha, S&C Trade and Caspro are all being designated pursuant to E.O. 13382 for having provided, or attempted to provide, financial, material, technological or other support for, or goods or services in support of, HESA. Yun Xia Yuan is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13382 for acting or purporting to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, S&C Trade.

 

Sanctions Implications

As a result of today’s action, all property and interests in property of the individuals and entities that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons must be blocked and reported to OFAC. In addition, any entities that are owned, directly or indirectly, 50 percent or more by one or more blocked persons are also blocked. All transactions by U.S. persons or within the United States (including transactions transiting the United States) that involve any property or interests in property of blocked or designated persons are prohibited.

In addition, persons that engage in certain transactions with the individuals or entities designated today may themselves be exposed to sanctions. Furthermore, any foreign financial institution that knowingly facilitates a significant transaction or provides significant financial services for any of the individuals or entities designated today pursuant to E.O. 13382 could be subject to U.S. sanctions.

The power and integrity of OFAC sanctions derive not only from OFAC’s ability to designate and add persons to the SDN List but also from its willingness to remove persons from the SDN List consistent with the law. The ultimate goal of sanctions is not to punish but to bring about a positive change in behavior. For information concerning the process for seeking removal from an OFAC list, including the SDN List, please refer to OFAC’s FAQ 897.

 

Click here for identifying information on the individuals and entities designated today.

 

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Coordinated Action with the European Union, the United Kingdom, and Australia

WASHINGTON — Today, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is sanctioning several Iranian regime officials and entities, including two senior officials in Iran’s prison system who have been responsible for serious human rights abuses against women and girls. OFAC is also taking action against the top commander of the Iranian army and a high-ranking leader in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), as well as an Iranian official who was central to the regime’s efforts to block internet access. Finally, OFAC is sanctioning three Iranian companies and their leadership for enabling the violent repression by the Iranian Law Enforcement Forces (LEF) of peaceful protestors, including many women and girls.

Iran’s prisons are notorious for mistreatment, abuse, and death. Women prisoners, especially, suffer sexual violence, torture, and other cruel, inhumane, and degrading treatment. 

“The United States, along with our partners and allies, stand with the women of Iran, who advocate for fundamental freedoms in the face of a brutal regime that treats women as second-class citizens and attempts to suppress their voices by any means,” said Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson. “We will continue to take action against the regime, which perpetuates abuse and violence against its own citizens—especially women and girls.”

Marking International Women’s Day, Treasury is taking this action in coordination with allies and partners — the European Union, United Kingdom, and Australia — demonstrating a unified commitment to holding the Iranian regime to account for denying the women and girls of Iran their human rights and dignity. These designations are pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13553, which authorizes the imposition of sanctions on certain persons with respect to serious human rights abuses by the Government of Iran, and E.O. 13846, which authorizes sanctions on persons who engage in censorship or other activities with respect to Iran. 

This is the tenth round of OFAC designations targeting the Iranian regime for its crackdown on peaceful demonstrators and depriving the Iranian people of access to the global internet since nationwide protests began in September 2022. 

Prison Officials

Ali Chaharmahali (Chaharmahali) is the Director-General of Alborz Province Prisons, a region that is home to some of Iran’s most notorious prisons. Protestors who have been sent to prisons under Chaharmahali’s oversight have been tortured and pressured into forced confessions. Prior to serving as the Director-General of Alborz Province Prisons, Chaharmahali served as warden of the infamous Evin Prison, under whose oversight prison officials, including members of the IRGC, tortured political opponents of the regime, including through the use of electrocutions, burnings, and severe beatings. Female inmates at Evin Prison during Chaharmahli’s tenure were frequently threatened with rape as a form of coercion. The women’s ward of Evin Prison lacks women’s health services and women have been denied access to medical care.

Dariush Bakhshi (Bakhshi) serves as the head of Orumiyeh Central Prison in West Azerbaijan Province, Iran. Women in Orumiyeh Central Prison, including protestors, have been subjected to sexual violence and other forms of mistreatment at the hands of prison officials and IRGC interrogators. Prisons officials under Bakshi’s oversight have used their positions of power to coerce women inmates into having sexual relations in exchange for better treatment, such as short furloughs from prison. Bakhshi has personally overseen the physical abuse of prisoners held for political or religious reasons. Prison officials in his jurisdiction have attacked such prisoners with batons, tear gas, and electroshock weapons. 

Chaharmahali and Bakhshi are being designated pursuant to E.O. 13553 for being persons acting on behalf of the Government of Iran (GoI) (including members of paramilitary organizations) who are responsible for or complicit in, or responsible for ordering, controlling, or otherwise directing, the commission of serious human rights abuses against persons in Iran or Iranian citizens or residents, or the family members of the foregoing, on or after June 12, 2009, regardless of whether such abuses occurred in Iran.

LEF Procurement Companies

Iranian company Naji Pas Company (Naji Pas) is responsible for supplying Iran’s security services, including the LEF, with equipment and consumable goods from domestic and international suppliers. 

The LEF, which has routinely employed lethal force to suppress Iranian protests, was designated pursuant to E.O. 13553 on June 9, 2011, for being responsible for or complicit in serious human rights abuses in Iran since the June 2009 disputed presidential election. 

Additionally, Naji Pas helps organize Iran’s annual International Police, Safety, and Security Equipment (IPAS) exhibition, which is attended by hundreds of companies looking to sell equipment and technology to the LEF. Reza Asgharian (Asgharian), the CEO of Naji Pas, has played a leading role in the IPAS exhibition. 

Naji Pas is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13553 for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, the LEF. 

Asgharian is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13553 for having acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, Naji Pas.

Naji Pars Amin Institute (Naji Pars) is licensed by the LEF to provide a wide range of protection and security services for various Iranian businesses and government facilities under the supervision of the LEF. Naji Pars specializes in protection and surveillance matters and provides advisory services and training to the LEF. The LEF is directly involved in management of Naji Pars’ business operations. Bahram Abdollahinejad (Abdollahinejad) is the CEO of Naji Pars.

Naji Pars is being designated for being owned or controlled by, directly or indirectly, the LEF.

Abdollahinejad is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13553 for having acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, Naji Pars.

Entebagh Gostar Sepehr Company, under the leadership of its CEO, Gholamreza Ramezanian Sani (Sani), manufactures or imports a wide variety of police-related equipment, much of which is used by the LEF to violently suppress protests. Its products include equipment ranging from electroshock weapons and bulletproof gear to sniper rifles and firearm accessories such as stocks and silencers. 

Entebagh Gostar Sepehr Company is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13553 for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, the LEF. 

Sani is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13553 for having acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, Entebagh Gostar Sepehr Company.

Internet Censorship

Mahdi Amiri (Amiri) serves as the Technical Director of the Cyberspace Affairs Deputy of the Prosecutor General’s Office. In this role, Amiri has worked directly with Iran’s chief internet censorship body, the Committee for Determining Instances of Criminal Content (CDICC), and the Iranian Cyber Police to block and censor content on certain websites. Iranian authorities have repeatedly used internet filtering, such as blocking websites and internet shutdowns, to quell protests by limiting communication and the sharing of information. 

Mahdi Amiri is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13846 for acting or having purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, the CDICC, a person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to E.O. 13628, which was revoked and superseded by E.O. 13846. The CDICC was designated pursuant to E.O. 13628 on May 30, 2013, for engaging in censorship or other activities with respect to Iran on or after June 12, 2009, that prohibit, limit, or penalize the exercise of freedom of expression or assembly by citizens of Iran or that limit access to print or broadcast media.

Overseeing Protest Suppression

Sayyed Abdolrahim Mousavi (Mousavi) has served as the Commander-in-Chief of the Islamic Republic of Iran Army (IRIA) since August 2017. Units under his control have been involved in the suppression of demonstrations during both the November 2019 economic protests and protests following the death of Mahsa Amini in September 2022. Troops under Mousavi’s command used machine guns to fire indiscriminately into crowds of protestors. 

Mousavi is being designated for being an official of the GoI or a person acting on behalf of the GoI (including members of paramilitary organizations) who is responsible for or complicit in, or responsible for ordering, controlling, or otherwise directing, the commission of serious human rights abuses against persons in Iran or Iranian citizens or residents, or the family members of the foregoing, on or after June 12, 2009, regardless of whether such abuses occurred in Iran.

Habib Shahsavari (Shahsavari) acts as the IRGC Commander of the Shohada Provincial Corps in West Azerbaijan Province. Shahsavari also served as one of the deputy commanders of IRGC’s northwest Hamzeh Sayyid al-Shohada Headquarters. Shahsavari previously served as the commander of the IRGC’s West Azerbaijan Martyrs Corp, where forces under his command reportedly detained and tortured individuals in IRGC intelligence detention centers. His subordinates reportedly have shot and killed civilians in West Azerbaijan and Kurdistan.

Shahsavari is being designated for having acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, the IRGC, a person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to E.O. 13553.

SANCTIONS IMPLICATIONS

As a result of today’s action, all property and interests in property of these persons that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons must be blocked and reported to OFAC. In addition, any entities that are owned, directly or indirectly, 50 percent or more by one or more blocked persons are also blocked. All transactions by U.S. persons or within the United States (including transactions transiting the United States) that involve any property or interests in property of blocked or designated persons are prohibited.

In addition, persons that engage in certain transactions with the persons designated today may themselves be exposed to sanctions or subject to an enforcement action. Furthermore, unless an exception applies, any foreign financial institution that knowingly facilitates a significant transaction or provides significant financial services for any of the persons designated today could be subject to U.S. sanctions.

The power and integrity of OFAC sanctions derive not only from OFAC’s ability to designate and add persons to the SDN List, but also from its willingness to remove persons from the SDN List consistent with the law. The ultimate goal of sanctions is not to punish, but to bring about a positive change in behavior. For information concerning the process for seeking removal from an OFAC list, including the SDN List, please refer to OFAC’s Frequently Asked Question 897 here. For detailed information on the process to submit a request for removal from an OFAC sanctions list, please click here.

Click here for identifying information on the individuals designated today.

 

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NAIROBI – U.S. candidate to lead the World Bank Ajay Banga visited Nairobi, Kenya on March 8 on the second stop of his global listening tour.

In the morning, Banga visited the Kenya Climate Innovation Center (KCIC) – a clean technology business incubator that was established with the support of the World Bank in 2012. During his stop, Banga met with Kenyan entrepreneurs working to address climate change in a range of sectors, including through climate-smart agriculture, renewable energy generation, water management, and other areas. While at KCIC, Banga underscored how combatting climate change and economic development are deeply intertwined and how investments in clean technologies can create jobs and expand economic opportunity. Banga also highlighted Kenya’s success in obtaining an overwhelming majority of their energy from renewable sources as its economy develops.

Later, to mark International Women’s Day, Banga hosted a roundtable conversation in Nairobi with gender-focused civil society organizations (CSOs) in Kenya. During the discussion, Banga solicited input from community leaders and reiterated the importance of the World Bank’s role in advancing financial inclusion and opportunities for women in the workforce.

While in Kenya, Banga also met with senior government officials at the State House, including President William Ruto, Cabinet Secretary Njuguna Ndung’u, Secretary of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs Alfred Mutua, and Governor of the Central Bank of Kenya Patrick Njoroge. During their engagement, Banga, President Ruto, and other Kenyan leaders exchanged views on how the World Bank can build on its strong and decades-long partnership with Kenya. Banga expressed admiration for Kenya’s success in developing renewable sources of energy. Banga also reiterated the critical importance of providing jobs, economic opportunity, and a good quality of life to young people in Kenya, Africa, and globally.

Finally, Banga thanked President Ruto and the government of Kenya for their support of his candidacy to lead the World Bank.

ABIDJAN – On March 6 and 7, U.S. candidate for President of the World Bank Ajay Banga visited Abidjan, Cote D’Ivoire as the first stop on his global listening tour.

On March 6, Banga met with leaders at the African Development Bank (AfDB) including President Akinwumi Adesina, as well as AfDB executive directors. During his meetings at AfDB, Banga stressed the importance of reinforcing cooperation between the AfDB and the World Bank, sought feedback on development challenges facing the continent, and highlighted areas for further cooperation, including work on economic development, climate resilience, gender equality, and private capital mobilization. 

Later, Banga held a roundtable with representatives of over a dozen civil society organizations (CSOs) in Cote D’Ivoire, including groups working on public health, good governance, education, and climate change. During the conversation, Banga sought input on how the World Bank can better meet global challenges alongside CSOs, which serve as critical partners in advancing goals like addressing climate change, combating poverty, and mitigating fragility.

On March 7, Banga toured the World Bank’s Electricity Transmission and Access Project in Yopougon — a $325 million project which aims to increase access to and the reliability of electricity in Cote D’Ivoire. So far, this project has provided new or improved electricity service to 185,000 people, electrified 82 villages, improved transmission lines, and reinforced 12 substations. During the visit, Banga stressed the fundamental role of expanding access to electricity in supporting economic development efforts, and highlighted how renewable sources of electricity can provide increasingly affordable and easily deployable access to energy. During a roundtable discussion, Banga also heard from beneficiaries about how the project had improved their lives through reliable access to electricity.

Afterwards, Banga met with ambassadors from African and Middle Eastern countries in Cote D’Ivoire for a discussion on their priorities. This group included ambassadors from Gabon, Cameroon, Nigeria, South Africa, Qatar, UAE, Morocco, Egypt and the charge d’affairs representing Lebanon.

Later, Banga met with senior Ivorian government officials, including Vice President Timeko Meyliet Kone and Prime Minister Patrick Achi, as well as Minister of Economy and Finance Adama Coulibaly, and Minister of the Budget Moussa Sanogo. During meetings, Banga and Ivorian government leaders exchanged views on key priorities like mobilizing private sector investments, bolstering climate adaptation, and providing economic opportunities for young people. Banga expressed admiration for Cote D’Ivoire’s economic development strategy and thanked the government for their announcement of support for his candidacy to lead the World Bank.

To date, 34 states have been approved to invest approximately $5 billion of Capital Projects Funds, which those states estimate will reach more than 1.4 million locations

 

WASHINGTON — Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced the approval of broadband projects in South Carolina under the Capital Projects Fund in President Biden’s American Rescue Plan. The state estimates it will use its funding to connect over 31,000 homes and businesses to affordable, high-speed internet. A key priority of the Capital Projects Fund program is to make funding available for reliable, affordable broadband infrastructure, advancing President Biden’s goal of affordable, reliable, high-speed internet for all Americans.

 

The Capital Projects Fund (CPF) provides $10 billion to states, territories, freely associated states, and Tribal governments to fund critical capital projects that enable work, education, and health monitoring in response to the public health emergency. In addition to the $10 billion provided by the CPF, many governments are using a portion of their State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) toward meeting the Biden-Harris Administration’s goal of connecting every American household to affordable, reliable high-speed internet. Together, these American Rescue Plan programs and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law are working in tandem to close the digital divide – deploying high-speed internet to those without access and lowering costs for those who cannot afford it.

 

“The pandemic upended life as we knew it and exposed the stark inequity in access to affordable and reliable high-speed internet in communities across the country, including rural, Tribal, and other underrepresented communities,” said Deputy Secretary Wally Adeyemo. “This funding is a key piece of the Biden-Harris Administration’s historic investments to increase access to high-speed internet for millions of Americans and provide more opportunities to fully participate and compete in the 21st century economy.”

“I am pleased to join the Biden-Harris Administration to announce this historic $185 million investment from the American Rescue Plan to bring affordable, high-speed internet service to an estimated 31,650 households in South Carolina,” said Assistant Democratic Leader James E. Clyburn. “In the words of a Tennessee farmer in the 1930s who assessed the impact of rural electrification, saying, ‘the next greatest thing to having the love of God in your heart is having electricity in your home,’ these funds creating the Main Street SC grant program are ‘the Next, Next Greatest Thing’ for rural America. Just as electricity was vital to households in rural communities in the 20th century, affordable, high-speed internet service is vital for rural and low-income communities to thrive in the 21st century global economy.  This investment will provide a lifeline for these households that have been unserved for far too long.”

South Carolina is approved to receive $185.8 million for broadband infrastructure, which the state estimates will connect approximately 31,000 households and businesses to high-speed internet access – representing 23% of locations still lacking high-speed internet access. South Carolina’s award will fund the Next, Next Greatest Thing – Main Street South Carolina (MAIN ST) grant program, a competitive last-mile broadband grant program designed to provide affordable, reliable broadband service to rural areas that currently lack adequate internet service. Within those eligible areas, the MAIN ST program prioritizes projects that will deliver broadband to rural town centers and the surrounding residential areas. The plan submitted to the Treasury Department and being approved today represents 100% of the state’s total allocation under the CPF program.

In accordance with the Treasury Department’s guidance, each state’s plan requires service providers to participate in the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP). The ACP helps ensure that households can afford the high-speed internet they need for work, school, healthcare, and more by providing a discount of up to $30 per month (or up to $75 per eligible household on Tribal lands). Experts estimate that nearly 40% of U.S. households are eligible for the program.

To further lower costs, President Biden and Vice President Harris announced the Administration had secured commitments from 20 leading internet service providers—covering more than 80% of the U.S. population—to offer all ACP-eligible households high-speed, high-quality internet plans for no more than $30 per month. As a result of this agreement and the ACP, eligible households can receive internet access at no cost and can check their eligibility and sign up at GetInternet.gov. In addition to requiring funding recipients to participate in the ACP, the Treasury Department’s guidance requires recipients to consider whether the federally funded networks will be affordable to the target markets in their service areas and encourages them to require that a federally funded project offer at least one low-cost option at speeds that are sufficient for a household with multiple users.

The Treasury Department began announcing state awards in June of last year. To date, 34 states have been approved to invest approximately $5 billion of CPF funding in affordable, reliable high-speed internet, which those states estimate will reach more than 1.4 million locations. The Treasury Department will continue approving state and Tribal plans on a rolling basis.

 

Click here to view Capital Projects Fund Award fact sheet on South Carolina.
 

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WASHINGTON – Today, Secretary of the Treasury Janet L. Yellen delivered opening remarks at the first meeting of the Climate-related Financial Risk Advisory Committee (CFRAC). The CFRAC, the first external advisory committee of the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC), will help the FSOC gather information on and analysis of climate-related financial risks from a broad array of stakeholders.

As Prepared for Delivery

Good morning, everyone. And thank you very much for having me today. This inaugural meeting of the Climate-related Financial Risk Advisory Committee, or CFRAC, is an important milestone in our efforts to understand and mitigate the risks that climate change poses to U.S. financial stability.

In October 2021, FSOC published its Report on Climate-related Financial Risk. As you know, the FSOC for the first time identified climate change as an emerging and increasing threat to U.S. financial stability. The report stated that climate change will likely become a source of shocks to the financial system in the coming years. As climate change intensifies, natural disasters and warming temperatures can lead to declines in asset values that could cascade through the financial system. And a delayed and disorderly transition to a net-zero economy can lead to shocks to the financial system as well.

These impacts are not hypothetical. They are already playing out. In the United States, there’s been at least a five-fold increase in the annual number of billion-dollar disasters over the past five years compared to the 1980s, even after adjusting for inflation. States like California, Florida, and Louisiana recently have seen especially severe storms and wildfires. And recent devastating tornadoes across the South and intensifying storms on the West Coast are reminders of how climate change is accelerating.

In addition to the terrible toll of these disasters on individuals and families, the economic and financial impacts of these events are significant. For example, in response to rising insured losses, some insurers are raising rates or even pulling back from high-risk areas. This has potentially devastating consequences for homeowners and their property values. Developments like these can spill over to other parts of our interconnected financial system.

Taking climate change into account is prudent risk management. Our work builds on the scientific consensus regarding the projected effects of climate change and is based on a widely accepted understanding of how the financial system works.

The publication of FSOC’s report was a critical step for the financial system in evaluating how climate change will impact our financial system and establishing a common framework for state and federal financial regulators to act. Importantly, the report included over 30 recommendations to U.S. financial regulators on how to identify and address climate-related risks to the financial system. These recommendations cover vital actions to enhance public climate-related disclosures, fill gaps in climate-related data, and build capacity to further address risks.

Since the publication of its report, FSOC and its member agencies have been hard at work to advance these recommendations. For instance, the OCC, FDIC, and Federal Reserve Board each proposed principles on climate-related financial risk management for large banks. Treasury’s Federal Insurance Office issued a proposal to collect data from insurers to assess climate-related financial risk across the United States. In January, the Federal Reserve Board announced that it is conducting a pilot climate scenario analysis exercise to learn about large banking organizations’ climate risk-management practices and challenges. And at the FSOC, we established the Climate-related Financial Risk Committee, or CFRC – a staff-level FSOC committee specifically dedicated to coordinating and facilitating this work. 

In FSOC’s climate report, we also recommended the creation of this advisory committee. The group assembled here represents a broad array of experts from academia, the private sector, and nonprofits. Some of you have very specialized expertise in modeling climate risks and working with climate data. Others have experience helping financial institutions respond to and manage their own climate risks. And others have experience advancing environmental justice. I’m excited for this group to begin meeting, and for us to benefit from your expertise.

This committee will be a crucial resource for the CFRC and FSOC. You’ll help us gather information and advance our understanding of climate-related financial risks. You will enrich work that we have already begun and find new avenues for us to explore. Many of you have previously collaborated with other groups that are advancing important work on climate-related financial risks – such as the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero. This range of experience will help the CFRAC develop informed perspectives on climate-related financial risks.

The work you all will undertake here is critical to improving the resilience of the U.S. financial system to the effects of climate change. I am incredibly grateful for your time and efforts.

Thank you.