Iraq wants to increase trade with the U.S. and make market access for U.S. companies more attractive, Iraq's Ambassador to the U.S. Fareed Yasseen said. But Yasseen also said Iraq is opposed to U.S. sanctions on Iran and will not take a side as tensions escalate. Yasseen said Iraq is working on two draft laws to boost trade and standardize entrances at customs border gates to convince U.S. companies to do business in the country. “Simply put, we would like U.S. businesses and U.S. society to have a role in the reconstruction of Iraq,” Yasseen said, speaking during a Sept. 10 Atlantic Council event.
A top Treasury Department official criticized Britain's decision to release an Iranian oil tanker and defended the U.S.’s maximum pressure sanctions campaign against Iran, saying the U.S. will not ease Iran sanctions ahead of a potential meeting between the two countries. Gibraltar's decision to release the Iranian oil tanker Adrian Darya 1, previously named Grace 1, was an “expensive mistake,” said Marshall Billingslea, Treasury’s assistant secretary for terrorist financing. Gibraltar seized the ship in July after suspecting it of transporting oil to Syria, but later released the tanker after Iran promised it would not ship oil to Syria, which would violate international sanctions. Despite the promises, the ship delivered oil to Syria (see 1909110042).
The Congressional Research Service released a report Sept. 11 on U.S. sanctions on Iran, detailing how sanctions are used within the Trump administration, the impact of the U.S.’s withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action and more. The 110-page report includes information on how sanctions are triggered; what type of trade between the two countries is allowed; detailed descriptions of U.S. sanctions on Iran’s oil, energy and military sectors; an overview of European sanctions on Iran; and possible future sanctions.
President Donald Trump discussed removing sanctions on Iran to help schedule a meeting with Iran's President Hassan Rouhani later this month, Bloomberg reported Sept. 11. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin was in favor of the move as a way to restart negotiations with Iran, the report said, but then-National Security Adviser John Bolton argued against it. Bolton resigned one day later.
The State Department announced sanctions on Zhuhai Zhenrong, China’s state-owned oil company, for buying petroleum from Iran, according to a notice in the Aug. 15 Federal Register. The sanctions -- which target the company and Youmin Li, its executive director and general manager -- take effect Sept. 16.
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with some of the top stories for Aug. 5-9 in case they were missed.
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control issued a set of frequently asked questions and amended the Iranian Financial Sanctions Regulations to implement a May executive order that imposed sanctions on Iran iron, steel, aluminum and copper, OFAC said in a notice scheduled to be published in the Aug. 7 Federal Register. The executive order was intended to cut off revenue streams from Iran’s metals sectors that fund the country’s nuclear weapons program, the notice said. The amendments to the sanctions regulations change the heading “Iranian Human Rights Abuses Sanctions Regulations” to the “Iranian Sector and Human Rights Abuses Sanctions Regulations” to reflect U.S. sanctions on Iran’s metal sectors.
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control agreed on a $1.7 million settlement with PACCAR Inc., of Bellevue, Washington, for 63 violations of U.S. sanctions on Iran by PACCAR’s subsidiary, OFAC said in an Aug. 6 notice. The subsidiary, Netherlands-based DAF Trucks N.V., sold 63 trucks worth more than $5 million to European customers that DAF knew intended to sell the trucks to Iran, OFAC said.
U.S. sanctions on Iran will force the country to come to the negotiating table but may be permanently damaging U.S. relationships with other trading partners, said James Cartwright, a former vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and a current board director for the Atlantic Council.
U.S. sanctions on Iran (see 1907080019) will not lead to a clear outcome, said Sarah Ladislaw, director of the Center for Strategic and International Studies Energy and National Security Program, adding that the U.S.’s failure may leave it without a contingency plan.