Treasury blocks assets of proliferation suspects under Executive Order 13382

The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control has placed one or more persons on its Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List, blocking all their property and interests in property subject to U.S. jurisdiction. The action was issued on September 29, 2026, and published in the Federal Register of Friday, October 2, 2026, under the authority of Executive Order 13382. U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with the designated parties.

The measure appears as a “Notice of OFAC Sanctions Action” in the Notices section of the Federal Register, Vol. 91, No. 190, pages 62809 to 62813, and is signed by Bradley T. Smith, Director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control. The notice states that the designations rest on OFAC’s determination that “one or more applicable legal criteria were satisfied,” and cites Executive Order 13382 — the authority used to target weapons of mass destruction proliferators and their supporters — as the sanctions authority for the blocking.

The publication follows OFAC’s standard practice of announcing blocking actions in the Federal Register after they take effect on the agency’s website. The notice directs readers to https://ofac.treasury.gov for the SDN List and additional information concerning OFAC sanctions programs.

What the notice establishes

• Issuing body: Office of Foreign Assets Control, U.S. Department of the Treasury.
• Action: publication of the names of one or more persons placed on the SDN List.
• Legal authority cited: Executive Order 13382.
• Date the action was issued: September 29, 2026.
• Effect: all property and interests in property subject to U.S. jurisdiction of the designated persons are blocked.
• Prohibition: U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with them.
• Publication: Federal Register, Vol. 91, No. 190, October 2, 2026, pp. 62809–62813 (FR Doc. 2026–20215).

Scope of the blocking

Blocking is the most restrictive step available to OFAC short of a full trade embargo: it freezes the targeted property rather than merely restricting dealings with it. The notice states that all property and interests in property subject to U.S. jurisdiction of the listed persons are blocked, and that U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with them.

The text does not quantify the assets affected or specify the number of entries added, stating only that “one or more persons” were designated. The names and identifying details of the designated parties are set out in the notice itself and are maintained on OFAC’s website.

Where the names are published

The notice reproduces the designations in the Federal Register and points readers to the SDN List at https://ofac.treasury.gov for the authoritative record. OFAC lists three contact points for the action: the Associate Director for Global Targeting at 202–622–2420, the Assistant Director for Licensing at 202–622–2480, and the Assistant Director for Sanctions Compliance at 202–622–2490.

The document carries the billing code 4810–AL–C and was filed for public inspection on October 1, 2026, ahead of its October 2 publication.

Why it matters

The designation closes U.S. financial and commercial channels to the listed parties and exposes any U.S. person who deals with them to sanctions liability, extending the reach of the Executive Order 13382 program to a new set of targets. For banks, exporters and compliance teams, the practical consequence is an immediate screening obligation against the updated SDN List.

Source: Federal Register, Vol. 91, No. 190, October 2, 2026, Notices, p. 62809 (official reference: FR Doc. 2026–20215).