The US Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security added 29 companies to its Entity List, saying they were "acting contrary to the national security or foreign policy interests of the United States."
The new rule aims at tightening US sanctions on the blacklisted Russian companies, including the state oil company Rosneft, by adding their subsidiaries to the list. Other targeted entities are ports in Russia’s Black Sea Crimea region – in Kerch, Feodosia, Yevpatoria, Sevastopol, Yalta – as well as a Kerch Strait ferry line.
"These persons will be listed on the Entity List under the destinations of Crimea region of Ukraine, Cyprus, Finland, Romania, Russia, Switzerland, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom," the document said.
The US State Department meanwhile earmarked over a dozen of companies from Russia, China, Sudan, Turkey and United Arab Emirates for penalties for allegedly providing Iran, Syria and North Korea with materials needed to build weapons of mass destruction (WMDs), cruise and ballistic missiles in violation of nonproliferation acts.
These measures are to stay in place for two years from the effective date, the document indicated.
In April, Russia lifted the ban on S-300 deliveries to Iran. The move came after Iran and six world powers reached a framework nuclear agreement to remove all economic sanctions against Tehran in exchange for its pledge to cut back on uranium enrichment and the number of centrifuges in the country.
