Search the UN Sanctions List

In one sentence: the UN sanctions list is the United Nations Security Council Consolidated List, the register of all individuals and entities subject to measures imposed by the Security Council. It brings together the lists of the Council’s sanctions committees, from the ISIL (Da’esh) and Al-Qaida regime to North Korea, Haiti and Sudan.

One list, but not one regime: the UN stresses that the common list neither implies that all names fall under one regime nor that the criteria for listing them are the same. Each committee decides on its own listings and its own measures. The most common ones are an asset freeze, a travel ban and an arms embargo.

On 6 October 2026, the list held 1,010 entries: 736 individuals and 274 entities. Small compared with national lists, but every entry has a special weight: the Security Council has decided it, and all 193 member states must implement it. A UN listing is the closest thing to a worldwide sanction.

First, the structure: the Consolidated List has two sections, individuals and entities. Each entry carries a permanent reference number that shows the regime behind it. The main fields:

• Permanent reference number: the prefix names the regime, the letter i or e the type. QDi.006 is an individual under the ISIL (Da’esh) and Al-Qaida regime, KPe.031 an entity under the North Korea regime.
• Names: up to four name fields to cover naming conventions in all cultures, the name in original script such as Arabic or Korean, and a title or designation.
• Aliases: split into good-quality aliases, sufficient for a positive identification, and low-quality aliases, which probably are not.
• Individuals: dates and places of birth, nationality, passport and national identification numbers, and addresses.
• Entities: aliases, former names and the addresses of offices or branches.
• Listed on and other information: the date of listing and of later amendments, plus supplementary details for identification.

Where information is missing, the list says “na” (not available). Many older entries are thin: a name, a nationality, a year of birth. For most listings, the committees also publish a narrative summary of the reasons for listing on their web pages.

The UN publishes the list as PDF, XML and HTML, sorted alphabetically or by reference number, and offers a mailing list for updates. Why does the detail matter? The name finds the candidate, the identifiers decide. More in what is sanctions screening.

Where does the Security Council get the power to sanction? From Chapter VII of the UN Charter. Once the Council determines a threat to the peace, breach of the peace or act of aggression, it can act. Two articles do the work:

• Article 41: the Council may decide on measures not involving the use of armed force, such as interrupting economic relations and means of communication or severing diplomatic relations.
• Article 25: the member states agree to accept and carry out the decisions of the Security Council.

In practice, the Council creates a sanctions regime by resolution and sets up a committee to run it. That is why regimes carry numbers: the 1718 Committee goes back to resolution 1718 (2006) on North Korea. The resolution sets the measures and the listing criteria. The committee adds or removes names, decides on exemptions and reports to the Council.

Most committees are supported by a panel of experts that investigates violations. Not all: the panel on North Korea ended on 30 April 2024 after a Russian veto blocked its renewal. A resolution creates the regime, the committee keeps it alive.

Some context first: since 1966, the Security Council has established 31 sanctions regimes, from Southern Rhodesia to Mali. As of October 2026, 15 are in force, each run by a committee. The number of entries on the Consolidated List on 6 October 2026 shows how unevenly they are used:

• ISIL (Da’esh) and Al-Qaida (resolutions 1267, 1989 and 2253): 336 entries, by far the largest regime.
• North Korea (1718): 155 entries, plus 59 ships on a separate vessels list.
• Taliban (1988): 140 entries, separated from the Al-Qaida regime in 2011.
• Iran (1737): 121 entries, back on the list since UN sanctions were reimposed in September 2025.
• Iraq (1518): 74 entries, including Saddam Hussein and members of his family.
• African regimes: the Democratic Republic of the Congo (61), Libya (31), Al-Shabaab in Somalia (24), the Central African Republic (15), Sudan (13), Guinea-Bissau (10) and South Sudan (8).
• Haiti (2653) and Yemen (2140): 11 entries each.

The fifteenth regime, 1636, dates from the 2005 assassination of Rafiq Hariri in Lebanon and has no listed names. Iran needs a note of its own. France, Germany and the United Kingdom triggered the “snapback” mechanism of the 2015 nuclear deal, and the earlier UN sanctions returned on 27 September 2025. Russia and China dispute that the snapback took legal effect.

For your screening, the dispute changes nothing: the Iran entries are on the official Consolidated List. Background on the types of sanctions behind these regimes: arms embargoes, asset freezes, travel bans and commodity bans. The list counts names, not countries.

Here lies the most common misunderstanding: the UN sanctions list does not bind companies directly. The resolutions address member states, which must implement the measures “in accordance with their respective legal processes”. Your obligation comes from the law of your country:

• United Kingdom: under section 13 of the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018, persons named by the UN become designated persons. They appear on the UK Sanctions List with a UN reference.
• European Union: the Commission transposes UN listings by implementing regulation. ISIL and Al-Qaida listings, for example, go into Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 881/2002 and onto the EU sanctions list.
• United States: the United Nations Participation Act of 1945 lets the President apply Security Council measures by executive order. OFAC administers many of the resulting programmes and lists them on the US sanctions lists.

The international standard sits on top: the FATF Recommendations 6 and 7 require countries to implement UN targeted financial sanctions on terrorism and proliferation without delay. Banks and other obliged entities are assessed against that standard.

Implementation can lag: between a UN listing and its publication in national or EU law, days can pass. Screening against the UN list itself closes that gap. Screen at the source, not just downstream.

Ships are not on the Consolidated List. The 1718 Committee on North Korea keeps them on a list of their own: the 1718 Designated Vessels List, with 59 ships in October 2026. Many were caught loading North Korean coal or making ship-to-ship transfers of oil.

The measures vary by vessel:

• Asset freeze: under resolution 2270 (2016), a vessel counts as an economic resource and can be frozen.
• De-flagging: the flag state must remove the ship from its register.
• Port entry ban: member states must refuse entry, except in an emergency, on the ship’s return to its port of origin or with the committee’s approval.

Entries carry the IMO number where one exists, such as 7303803 for the tanker An San 1. Names change, the IMO number stays. If you insure, finance or charter ships, screen vessel names and IMO numbers, not just companies.

How does a name come off the UN sanctions list? There are two routes, depending on the regime:

• Ombudsperson: for the ISIL (Da’esh) and Al-Qaida list, an independent Ombudsperson reviews delisting requests and recommends a decision to the committee. The office was created by resolution 1904 (2009).
• Focal Point for Delisting: for all other regimes, petitioners can apply to the Focal Point, set up by resolution 1730 (2006), or through their state of residence or citizenship.

The Council can also delist by resolution. On 6 November 2025, resolution 2799 removed Syria’s transitional President Ahmed al-Sharaa and his interior minister, Anas Khattab, from the ISIL and Al-Qaida list.

Death alone does not remove a name. Saddam Hussein, executed in 2006, is still listed under reference IQi.001. A name stays until the committee takes it off.

Who punishes a breach of UN sanctions? Not the UN. The Security Council has no court and no enforcement agency for companies. Penalties come from the member state that implements the measure:

• United Kingdom: civil penalties from OFSI on a strict-liability basis, and prison for criminal breaches.
• European Union: under Directive (EU) 2024/1226, intentional breaches must be criminal offences in every member state.
• United States: civil and criminal penalties under the statutes OFAC enforces.

The detail is on our UK, EU and US pages. The UN draws up the list, the penalty comes from home.