On October 13, 2017, President Trump announced that he was “decertifying” Iran’s compliance with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (“JCPOA”). By itself, this action does not mean that the United States has withdrawn from the JCPOA, nor does it reinstate sanctions that were lifted under the JCPOA. What it does do, however, is to hand the matter over to the US Congress for a 60-day review period in which Congress must decide whether the sanctions relief under the JCPOA will remain in effect. Congress is also reported to be considering new laws that would automatically re-impose US sanctions if Iran violates existing and new restrictions on its nuclear program and President Trump has threatened to use his authority to cancel US participation in the JCPOA if Congress fails to act. Against this uncertain US political backdrop, both Iran and US allies have reaffirmed their clear commitment to Iran’s compliance with the JCPOA. In parallel, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (“IRGC”), which was already designated on the List of Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (“SDN List”), has been targeted for further sanctions for its support of terrorism, resulting in the loss of certain exemptions under US sanctions.
Today, the President signed into law the “Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act” (“CAATSA”), a bill that he called “seriously flawed” in a statement about CAATSA issued at the same time he signed the bill.
On July 27, 2017, the US Senate approved in a 98-2 vote H.R. 3364, the “Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act” (“H.R. 3364”). We previously summarized H.R. 3364 in our blog posts here and here. H.R. 3364 now goes to the White House where the President will have 10 days to (1) sign the bill, (2) veto the bill, or (3) permit the bill to become law without his signature. The 10-day clock will start when the US Congress delivers H.R. 3364 to the President, which may happen in a few days.
Last month, the US Senate passed significant Russia sanctions legislation as an amendment to an Iran sanctions bill targeting Iran’s ballistic missile program. The Russia sanctions provisions sought to limit the President’s ability to relax existing US sanctions targeting Russia while imposing additional restrictions impacting various sectors of the Russian economy. The key provisions of the Senate bill are summarized in our earlier blog post.