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Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (“JCPOA”)

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On November 5, 2018, the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) took several actions to finalize the re-imposition of sanctions against Iran in response to President Trump’s May 8, 2018 decision to cease the United States’ participation in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (“JCPOA”). See our previous blog posts here regarding the President’s May 8, 2018 decision to cease the United States’ participation in the JCPOA and here regarding Executive Order (“EO”) 13846, issued on August 6, 2018, which consolidated and reissued several sanctions provisions that had been suspended or revoked while the JCPOA was in effect.

On October 16, 2018, the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) designated certain Iranian entities and banks as Specially Designated Nationals (“SDNs”) pursuant to Executive Order (“EO”) 13224, which targets terrorists and those providing support to terrorism. A full list of those entities designated as part of this action is available here.  US Persons (i.e., entities organized under US laws and their non-US branches; parties physically located in the United States; US citizens and permanent resident aliens wherever located or employed) are prohibited from dealing directly or indirectly with SDNs.  Under the Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations (“ITSR”), non-US entities owned or controlled by US Persons are also prohibited from dealing with SDNs that are located or based in Iran (regardless of their reason for designation) or owned or controlled by the Government of Iran (regardless of where they are located).

On August 6, 2018, President Trump issued Executive Order 13846, “Reimposing Certain Sanctions with Respect to Iran” (the “New Iran EO”), which formally reimposes certain sanctions on Iran that had been suspended or revoked as part of the United States’ commitments under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (“JCPOA”). The New Iran EO, which was issued to coincide with the end of the 90-day wind-down period announced on May 8, 2018 and detailed in our previous blog post, reimposes a wide range of sanctions on Iran that were in effect prior to the implementation of the JCPOA pursuant to pre-existing legal authorities, and also expands the scope of those sanctions, as described below.

The European Commission has started the process by which it would add US sanctions measures on Iran to the so-called Blocking Regulation (formerly Regulation 2271/96). This is in direct response to the US President’s withdrawal of his waiver relating to the JCPOA. The effect of the withdrawal was to reintroduce US sanctions that were in force prior to the JCPOA. US sanctions on Iran not only impact US companies and persons, but can, in certain…