Strengthening Oversight of Iran’s Access to Finance Act

Under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (in this section referred to as the “JCPOA”), informally known as the Iran nuclear deal, the Obama administration agreed to license the sale of commercial passenger aircraft to Iran, the world's foremost state sponsor of terrorism and a jurisdiction of primary money laundering concern.

In April 2015, prior to the adoption of the JCPOA, Secretary of the Treasury Jacob Lew, in publicly advocating for its provisions, stated, “Make no mistake: deal or no deal, we will continue to use all our available tools, including sanctions, to counter Iran’s menacing behavior. Iran knows that our host of sanctions focused on its support for terrorism and its violations of human rights are not, and have never been, up for discussion.”.

In March 2016 remarks to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Secretary Lew, in reference to United States commitments under the JCPOA, stated, “While we have lifted the nuclear sanctions, we continue to enforce sanctions directed at support for terrorism and regional destabilization, and missile and human rights violations.”.

In an April 2016 forum at the Council on Foreign Relations, Secretary Lew stated that, under the JCPOA, the United States committed to lifting its nuclear sanctions, “but the U.S. financial system is not open to Iran, and that is not something that is going to change”.

In September 2016, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (in this section referred to as “OFAC”) issued licenses permitting the export of up to 97 aircraft for use by Iran Air, the Islamic Republic of Iran's flagship state-owned air carrier. These licenses included authorization for United States financial institutions “to engage in all transactions necessary to provide financing or other financial services” in order to effectuate the sales. In November 2016, OFAC licensed an additional 106 aircraft for purchase by Iran Air, which are also eligible for financing authorized by OFAC.

The Department of the Treasury had sanctioned Iran Air in 2011 for its use of commercial passenger aircraft to transport rockets, missiles, and other military cargo on behalf of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (in this section referred to as the “IRGC”) and Iran’s Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics, both of which had been designated under Executive Order 13382 for weapons proliferation-related activities. In October 2017, the IRGC went on to be designated under Executive Order 13224 for its support of the IRGC-Qods Force, which has provided support to terrorist groups such as Hizballah, Hamas, and the Taliban.

Among Iran Air’s sanctionable activities, the air carrier delivered missile or rocket components to the regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria, which like Iran is classified as a state sponsor of terrorism.

The Assad regime is responsible for a civil conflict that has claimed an estimated 400,000 lives, including through the regime's deployment of chemical weapons and barrel bombs against unarmed civilians and children.

Despite being delisted in 2016, Iran Air has continued to fly known weapons resupply routes to government-controlled areas of Syria. According to research by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, between Implementation Day of the JCPOA on January 16, 2016, and May 4, 2017, Iran Air operated at least 134 flights to Syria, which included stops in Abadan, Iran, a suspected IRGC logistical hub for airlifts to the Assad regime.

In November 2016 correspondence to the Chairman of the Committee on Financial Services of the House of Representatives, the Department of the Treasury noted that the commitment to delist Iran Air under the JCPOA “does not affect our ability to designate, or re-designate, any Iranian airline that engages in sanctionable activity. The United States retains the ability to designate any individual or entity that engages in sanctionable activities under our authorities targeting conduct outside the scope of the JCPOA, including Iran’s support for terrorism, human rights abuses, ballistic missile program, and other destabilizing activities in the region.”.

In April 2017, Iran announced a deal for Aseman Airlines to purchase up to 60 commercial aircraft, a transaction that would require authorization by OFAC. Aseman Airlines’ chief executive officer, Hossein Alaei, has for decades served as a senior member of the IRGC.

In general— Not later than 30 days after authorizing a transaction by a United States financial institution or a foreign financial institution in connection with the export or re-export of a commercial passenger aircraft to Iran (or, for an authorization made after January 16, 2016, but before the date of the enactment of this Act, not later than 60 days after such date of enactment), and every 180 days thereafter for the duration of the authorization, the Secretary shall submit a report described in subsection (b) to the appropriate congressional committees.

Report with respect to financial institutions’ Iran-Related transactions and due diligence— A report described in this subsection is a report that contains—

Report on non-Certification— A report on non-certification described in this subsection is a report with respect to a transaction by a financial institution described in subsection (a) that contains—

Waiver— The President may waive, on a case-by-case basis, the provisions of this section for up to one year at a time upon certifying to the appropriate congressional committees that—

Termination— This section shall cease to be effective on the date that is 30 days after the date on which the President certifies to the appropriate congressional committees that—

Definitions— In this section: