Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List

The Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List, also known as the SDN List, is a United States government sanctions/embargo measure targeting U.S.-designated terrorists, officials and beneficiaries of certain authoritarian regimes, and international criminals (e.g. drug traffickers). The list is managed by the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). When individuals are added to the list of Specially Designated Nationals (SDN), their U.S. assets are blocked. Moreover, their names are added to automated screening systems used by banks in the United States and many foreign countries, making it difficult for them to open or hold accounts, transfer money, or transact properties internationally. Any individual or entity that provides support related to terrorism, drug trafficking or unauthorized military use to any person or entity appearing on the SDN list risks being penalized under the USA PATRIOT Act.

The SDN list contains tens of thousands of companies, organizations, and individuals who have been identified as posing a threat to U.S. national security and foreign and economic policy. All persons and businesses within the U.S. are prohibited from doing business with blacklisted individuals or are subject to sanctions for violating the law. Financial sanctions include a ban on investment in the stock of the blacklisted individuals and companies in which the blacklisted individuals have a controlling interest, and a ban on new debt (including all securities such as bonds, credits, bills of exchange, etc.) with a maturity of more than 90 days. After the 2014 Crimean crisis, the U.S. blacklisted a number of Russian and Crimean companies for sanctions. Almost every country is represented on the list.

Belarus

 * Alexander Lukashenko – President of the Republic of Belarus
 * Mikalai Karpiankou – Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs
 * Natallia Eismant – Press secretary of Alexander Lukashenko
 * Viktor Khrenin – Minister of Defense

China

 * Chen Quanguo – Chinese Communist Party 19th Politburo member
 * Zhang Chunxian - Chinese Communist Party 18th Politburo member
 * Wang Chen – Chinese Communist Party 19th Politburo member
 * Zhang Xiaoming – Former deputy director of the State Council's Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office
 * You Quan – Former Head of CCP's United Front Work Department
 * Li Shangfu – Former State Councilor and Minister of National Defence
 * Cai Dafeng - Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress
 * Cao Jianming - Former Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress
 * Chen Zhu - Former Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress
 * Padma Choling - Former Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress
 * Ding Zhongli - Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress
 * Hao Mingjin - Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress
 * Arken Imirbaki - Former Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress
 * Ji Bingxuan - Former Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress
 * Shen Yueyue - Former Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress
 * Wan Exiang - Former Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress
 * Wang Dongming - Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress
 * Wu Weihua - Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress
 * Zhu Hailun - Former Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the People's Congress of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region
 * Wang Mingshan - Secretary of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Regional Political and Legal Affairs Commission
 * Huo Liujun - Former Communist Party Secretary of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Regional Public Security Department

Hong Kong SAR

 * Carrie Lam – Former Chief Executive of Hong Kong
 * Chris Tang – Secretary for Security
 * Teresa Cheng – Former Secretary for Justice of Hong Kong
 * John Lee – Chief Executive of Hong Kong

Macau SAR

 * Wan Kuok-koi – Former leader of the Macau gang 14K

Iran

 * Esmail Qaani – Commander of the Quds Force of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
 * Ayatollah Ali Khamenei – Supreme Leader of Iran
 * Mohammad Javad Zarif – Former foreign minister of Iran
 * Amir Ali Hajizadeh – Commander of Aerospace Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
 * Mahmoud Ahmadinejad – Former President of Iran

Libya

 * Saif al-Islam Gaddafi – Son of Muammar Gaddafi, leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Libya

North Korea

 * Kim Yong-chol – Head of the United Front Department

North Macedonia

 * Sašo Mijalkov – Former Administration for Security and Counterintelligence of Republic of North Macedonia
 * Nikola Gruevski – Former Prime Minister of the Republic of North Macedonia
 * Stevčo Jakimovski from Podrzi Konj - Leader of the Citizen Option for Macedonia and a mayor of the Karpoš Municipality and a former member of the Social Democratic Union.

Russia

 * Vladimir Putin – President of the Russian Federation.
 * Dmitry Medvedev – Former President of the Russian Federation.
 * Petr Fradkov – Russian economist and banker serving as the chairman and CEO of Promsvyazbank and the general director of the Russian Export Center.
 * Valery Gerasimov – current Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.
 * Sergei Ivanov – Russian senior official and politician who has served as the Special Representative of the President of the Russian Federation on the Issues of Environmental Activities, Ecology and Transport since 12 August 2016.
 * Vladimir Kiriyenko – chairman and CEO of VK (formerly known as Mail.ru Group)
 * Sergei Lavrov – Russian diplomat and politician who has served as the Foreign Minister of Russia since 2004.
 * Nikolai Patrushev – Russian politician, security officer and intelligence officer. He served as Director of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), from 1999 to 2008, and he has been Secretary of the Security Council of Russia since 2008.
 * Igor Sechin – Russian oligarch and a government official, considered a close ally and "de facto deputy" of Vladimir Putin.
 * Sergei Shoigu – General of the Army who serves as Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation and as Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Defense of the CIS since 2012.
 * Tina Kandelaki – Russian-Georgian journalist, Deputy CEO of Gazprom Media, acting director of Russian federal TV channel TNT; alongside Kandelaki, her husband Vasily Brovko has also been added to the list.
 * Alexander Dugin – Ultranationalist politician and leader of the Eurasia Party
 * Igor Girkin – Russian army veteran and former Minister of Defence of the Donetsk People's Republic, charged by Dutch prosecutors for the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17

Syria

 * Bashar al Assad – President of Syrian Arab Republic
 * Asma al Assad – First Lady of Syria
 * Maher al Assad – General and commander of the Republican Guard

Venezuela

 * Nicolás Maduro – President of Venezuela
 * Delcy Rodríguez – Vice President of Venezuela
 * Tareck El Aissami – Minister of Petroleum (Venezuela)

Other

 * Marinko Čavara – President of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina
 * Svetozar Marović – Former President of Serbia and Montenegro
 * Milorad Dodik – President of Republika Srpska
 * Ali Ahmed Karti – Former foreign minister of Sudan
 * Sadio Camara – Defence Minister of Mali
 * Falih Al-Fayyadh – Chairman of the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces and former National Security Advisor

Former (deceased)

 * Anwar al-Awlaki – (until 2011) – American-born al-Qaeda leader, killed by drone strike in Yemen
 * Bi Sidi Souleymane – (until 2021) Former leader of the Central African Republic-based militia group Return, Reclamation, Rehabilitation
 * Ebrahim Raisi – (until 2024) Former President of Iran
 * Saddam Hussein – (until 2006) Former President of Iraq
 * Slobodan Milošević – (until 2006) Former President of Serbia/Serbia and Montenegro (Yugoslavia)
 * Qasem Soleimani – (until 2020) Former Commander of the Quds Force of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
 * Muammar Gaddafi – (until 2011) Former Leader of Libya
 * Yevgeny Prigozhin – (until 2023) Russian tycoon and founder of Wagner Group, a private mercenary army.

Former (alive)

 * Fatou Bensouda – (until 2021) Former Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, sanctioned for investigating allegations of war crimes in Afghanistan, Poland, Romania and Lithuania committed by the United States Armed Forces and the Central Intelligence Agency.