The U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) administers several sanctions programs targeting terrorism that are rooted in presidential executive orders issued under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and the National Emergencies Act. These orders block the property and interests in property of designated individuals and entities and prohibit U.S. persons from transacting with them.
The principal counterterrorism executive orders include:
- E.O. 12947 (January 23, 1995), signed by President Clinton, which targeted "Specially Designated Terrorists" (SDTs) threatening the Middle East peace process, including Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and Kahane Chai.
- E.O. 13099 (August 20, 1998), which amended E.O. 12947 to add Usama bin Laden and al-Qa'ida following the East Africa embassy bombings.
- E.O. 13224 (September 23, 2001), signed by President George W. Bush twelve days after the September 11 attacks. This is the centerpiece order: it broadened blocking authority to anyone who commits, threatens, supports, or is "otherwise associated with" designated terrorists, creating the Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) category. It was significantly amended by E.O. 13886 (September 9, 2019), which expanded secondary sanctions authority and lowered the threshold for designating leaders of terrorist groups.
Designations under these orders place names on OFAC's Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN) List. Consequences include asset freezes within U.S. jurisdiction, a prohibition on U.S. persons providing funds, goods, or services, and exposure of foreign financial institutions to potential correspondent account restrictions. The State Department's parallel Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) list under Section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act often overlaps with SDGT designations but carries distinct criminal "material support" liability under 18 U.S.C. § 2339B.
OFAC issues general and specific licenses to authorize humanitarian transactions, and it published expanded humanitarian carve-outs in late 2022 following UN Security Council Resolution 2664.
Example
In 2019, the Trump administration used E.O. 13224, as amended by E.O. 13886, to designate Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist entity.
Frequently asked questions
SDGT designations are made by Treasury (or State) under E.O. 13224 and freeze assets and bar transactions. FTO designations are made by the Secretary of State under INA §219 and trigger criminal liability for knowingly providing material support under 18 U.S.C. §2339B.
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