President Trump signed the much-anticipated Russia (and Iran) sanctions bill into law on Friday, September 18, 2026. The final text of H.R. 5334 is available here. In Brief It has been a long journey since Senator Lindsey Graham introduced an earlier version of the bill in the Senate in April 2025. After Senator Graham passed away in July, a new Russia sanctions bill was introduced bearing his name, the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and…
On August 20, 2026, the White House released the National Security Science and Technology Strategy (“NSSTS”), which establishes the Trump administration’s framework for maintaining US technological leadership and protecting critical and emerging technologies. The NSSTS is organized around four pillars: (1) focusing techno-strategic competition, (2) building technological resilience, (3) accelerating innovation, and (4) protecting national security science and technology. For sanctions, export controls, investment screening, and data security practitioners, Pillar 4(Protect National Security S&T) is…
On July 10, 2026, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) announced a series of Iran-related sanctions designations targeting Iranian financial facilitator Ali Ansari and his financial network, as well as several Iranian exchange houses accused of facilitating transactions for sanctioned Iranian banks. Concurrently, OFAC issued General License Y (“GL Y”), authorizing the temporary wind down of transactions involving Smart Global Limited, a newly designated holding company allegedly controlled by Ansari.…
On June 22, 2026, the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) published a new general license (Iran General License X or “GL X”) as the first step in implementing the US-Iran Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”) to end recent hostilities in the Middle East. The MOU has not been formally or officially published by US Government agencies such as the State or Treasury Departments but its text has widely been reported and confirmed…