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'Implementation Day' Marks Rollback of Significant Nuclear-Related Sanctions on Iran

BY Lisa A. Prager, Betty Santangelo, Gary Stein, Peter H. White, Lara Covington, Seetha Ramachandran, Michael P. Court
June 01, 2016

On Jan. 16, 2016, Secretary of State John Kerry confirmed the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) determination that Iran implemented its key nuclear-related measures as described in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Thus, Jan. 16, 2016 was “Implementation Day” under the JCPOA. As a result of Iran verifiably meeting its nuclear commitments, the United States lifted certain sanctions primarily applicable to non-U.S. persons, including foreign entities owned or controlled by U.S. persons, as discussed below. In addition, the United States removed over 400 individuals and entities from the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List (SDN List), the Foreign Sanctions Evaders List (FSE List) and/or the Non-SDN Iran Sanctions Act List (NS-ISA List).

Secondary Sanctions in Certain Sectors

The U.S. government rolled back certain nuclear-related “secondary sanctions” on Iran: 1) as applied to non-U.S. persons and entities; and 2) with respect to the eight business categories listed below. These secondary sanctions applied even to non-U.S. entities that were not owned or controlled by a U.S. person and that were outside OFAC's jurisdiction. Although such entities could not be penalized in an enforcement action, they faced other sanctions such as being denied access to the U.S. financial system. Under the JCPOA, non-U.S. persons, including U.S.-owned or -controlled foreign entities, are now eligible to participate in transactions or activities subject to the sanctions lifting under the JCPOA only to the extent that the transactions or activities are exempt from regulation or authorized by OFAC. Specifically, the United States lifted the following eight categories of secondary sanctions as related to Iran:

  1. Financial and banking-related activities;
  2. Underwriting services, insurance or re-insurance;
  3. Energy and petrochemicals;
  4. Shipping, shipbuilding and port operators;
  5. Gold and other precious metals;
  6. Graphite, metals and software for integrating industrial processes;
  7. Automotive sector; and
  8. Sanctions on associated services for each of the categories above.

Accordingly, for example, a Swiss corporation may purchase, sell, transport or market petroleum, petrochemical products and natural gas from Iran, including transactions with the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC). A Swiss subsidiary of a U.S. company may also engage in transactions with Iran's energy sector, provided the U.S. parent is not involved in the Iran-related operations or decision-making, as explained further below.

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