US Treasury removes 84 entities from sanctions lists, including Iraq-linked names

The U.S. Department of the Treasury announced the removal of 84 individuals and entities from its sanctions lists, which contain more than 17,000 names, including entries linked to Iraq. The department said the deletions are part of an effort to streamline sanctions programs and ease compliance for banks. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent began a broad review of the department's sanctions programs and lists in May, disclosing that 76 targets had been removed in an initial round. A department official said the review aims to keep sanctions effective and targeted while clearing unnecessary entries that had accumulated over time. The number of listed names had grown from 880 in 2017 to more than 3,000 in 2024, according to the official. In the second round, 33 Iraq-linked entities added to the list in 1991 and 1992 were removed, along with 36 deceased individuals and their associated records. Seven entries tied to Colombian drug trafficking and eight records linked to neutralized drug kingpins were also deleted. The department said each removal followed interagency review and that names could be relisted if doing so did not harm U.S. foreign policy or national security interests.