On 3 August, OFAC blocked four individual Turkish nationals, seven companies located around the world, and seven vessels for providing energy assistance to the Assad regime in Syria and consequently extending the Syrian conflict. Generally, the companies, which are registered in and have operations in various countries around the world, are said to be controlled by and acting on behalf of Wael Abdulkarim and the Abdulkarim Group, which were previously blocked. The newly designated individuals are employees and managers of Milenyum Energy S.A., one of the companies designated. The vessels are owned either by Milenyum or by Aqua Shipping Ltd., another designated company that is said to be a front for Milenyum.
At the same time, the US added to its Specially Designated Nationals list six Syrian government-owned entities and three vessels. These were already blocked by operation of law because they constitute property in which the Syrian government has an interest but were added to the list to communicate to the public that dealings with those entities are prohibited.
